Sky Broadband

For the Sky Broadband service in New Zealand, seeSky (New Zealand).

Sky Broadband

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Internet
Founded	2006(2006)
Headquarters	London,UK
Area served	United Kingdom
Products	Internet service
Services	Internet service provider
Parent	Sky UK
Website	www.sky/broadband

Sky Broadbandis the consumer internet service offered bySky UKin theUnited Kingdom.

History

In October 2005,Sky UKagreed to purchase the ISPEasynetfor £211 million.At the time, Easynet were one of two companies in the UK that had made major investments inlocal-loop unbundling(LLU), providing Sky with access to 232 unbundled telephone exchanges.The purchased company was placed under a new Sky division, Sky Broadband. In October 2007, Sky reached the one million mark in terms of customer numbers, and claim to be adding one new customer every 40 seconds.By September 2009, it had 2.3 million customers.By July 2012 Sky had reached four million customers, andunbundledexchanges covering over 70% of theUnited Kingdom.By January 2017, Sky said it had 6.1 million customers.

Sky agreed on 1 March 2013 to buy the fixed telephone line and broadband business ofTelefónica UK,trading under theO2andBEbrands. The company agreed to pay £180 million initially, followed by a further £20 million after all customers have been transferred to Sky's existing Broadband and telephone business.and customers were transferred during 2014.

Networking

Sky Broadband provides customers with download speeds of up to 900 Mbps via theOpenreachnetwork.

Sky launched Sky Broadband in the Republic of Ireland in February 2013.

Internet Speeds

As with all DSL connections, the further the distance from theDSLAM(usually located at the telephone exchange) the customer site is, the slower the line speed will be. Sky uses DLM (dynamic line management) over the first ten days of a new connection to set the line at an acceptable downstream and upstream speed in order for the connection to remain stable. Lines are initially connected at 4 Mbit/s and gradually increased over the ten-day "training period" until the line shows signs of instability, this allows Sky to know what speeds the line can handle whilst remaining stable.

In April 2012, Sky Fibre was launched almost two and a half years after British Telecom launched BT Infinity in January 2010.

In April 2014 it was announced they are to roll out 1 gigabitfibre-to-the-premisesconnections in the city of York in partnership with rivalTalkTalk.

Sky Wireless Hub

TheSky Wireless Hubis awireless routerdistributed to all Sky Broadband customers when they order their Sky Broadband packages.

During 2006,Netgearwere the only manufacturer of Sky Broadband routers, which were made in white. From 2008, Netgear andSagemwere the manufacturers of the Sky Broadband routers, made in black and shaped to match the Sky+ HD box. Both routers are also distributed in smaller boxes (The boxes are now the size of the routers) as part ofSky UK’s low carbon scheme in turn reducing postage costs. The Sagem router unlike the Netgear router has added restrictions to features such as the built in inboundfirewallsettings and outbound and inboundVPNconnections. However afirmwareupgrade is available upon request, for users wishing to connect to an outbound VPN connection using Sky Broadband, while maintaining restrictions on the inbound firewall and inbound VPN connection.

Towards the end of 2010, D-Link started producing routers for Sky. The D-Link router is the DSL-2640S.

On Demand

Sky have createdOn Demand,which will combine Sky Broadband andSky+ HDto offer a trueon-demandservice using theEthernetsocket of the Sky+ HD box and the Sky Broadband router. Sky Customers will be able to connect their Sky router to their Sky+ HD box via an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi adapter, and stream content directly to theirtelevision.Unlike other VOD services,On Demandvideo will count towards a users data usage.

Now Broadband

See also:Now (Sky)

Now Broadband (stylised as NOW Broadband) is a brand name of contract-free pricing plans that offerbroadbandinternet and telephone service on a budget. It was launched in Summer 2016 as Now TV Combo,and was rebranded in early 2018 as Now Broadband.It is abrand extensionof Sky'sNow,anover-the-topinternet televisionservice which offers multichannel television and video-on-demand content on a budget.

Controversy

On 21 September 2010, the website ofACS:Lawwas subjected to aDDoS attackas part ofOperation Payback.After the site came back online a 350 MB file was uploaded containing spreadsheets listing more than 8,000 Sky broadband customers accused of makingunauthorized downloadsof adult films. This raised issues concerning Sky not following Data Protection Act guidelines.

Broadband Shield

In March 2014Samuel L. Jacksonand the other stars ofCaptain America: The Winter Soldierappeared in advertisements for the 'Sky Broadband Shield'web blockingproduct.

Sky Talk Shield

In June 2017 Sky launched a free nuisance call blocking service as an optional extra for their landline customers.The service screens calls automatically before the phone rings, preventing robot callers. Customers are played a recording of the caller's name and given the option to either accept the call, reject it or send to voicemail.

As was common for Sky Broadband marketing campaigns during the 2010s, the launch was promoted with an advert featuring a tie in with a film franchise, in this case,Despicable Me 3.

External links

• Official website
• NOW Broadband