Latest Sky results show high demand for broadband

The latest quarterly results from BSkyB indicate a high demand for the Sky Broadband service.

Since the launch on 18 July 2006, about a million have initially registered, with 113,000 placing orders.  Out of these, 74,000 have been connected, the majority through Sky’s own broadband network.  Most of these customers were connected within 15 working days of the booking date.

Easynet, the Sky owned company who provide the broadband service, also had 35,000 registrations to UK Online, Easynet’s residential broadband service.

The demand for broadband took a sharp rise during September and October, with around 10,000 customer orders per week, up from the average of 950 customers per week.  The current rate is said to be around 20,000 orders a week.  Sky also recently launched a new online ordering tool to facilitate the higher demand.

Although network coverage is limited at the moment, Sky says it is on track to have network coverage of 50% of UK homes by December 2006 and 70% by December 2007.

The purchase of Easynet cost £7 million and residential broadband costs added £35 million, reducing the company’s operating profit to £180 million.

Related Links

• Sky Broadband offers