UK broadband provider Sky has signed a new discount wholesale agreement with Openreach as it looks to grow its broadband customer base, reports The Telegraph. In return for price reductions of up to 40 percent, Sky has agreed to sell 'superfast' or 'ultrafast' services to at least 84 percent of its broadband customers within five years.
The agreement will see Sky become a retailer of the new, faster services on the Openreach network and will see packages using G.fast technology with download speeds of up to 330 Mbps. It will also sell Openreach full-fibre services, which support speeds of 1 Gbps and higher.
Ofcom forced Openreach to cut its wholesale prices for superfast services, with Openreach agreeing higher and earlier discounts in exchange for volume sales commitments from retailers. Sky is not likely to pass these discounts onto customers straight away as its volume target commitments will require spending on marketing. It will also need to upgrade its network and customer service systems to support ultrafast services.
