Customers of Sky’s sibling NOW Broadband ISP sub-brand, which is best known for its associated NOW TV streaming service, should take note that the provider has today launched a new 75Mbps Full Fibre (FTTP) tier via Openreach’s network and will now only sell new packages via Sky’s website (i.e. NOW no longer has their own order system).
The move reflects a continuation of the strategy that we first saw in February 2024 (here), when NOW introduced their first Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) package (100Mbps “Powered by Sky“) and oddly only made it available via Sky’s website – effectively diluting the somewhat more separate approach and branding that NOW TV had previously been taking.
However, from today, new customers will also be able to purchase a new full fibre product, NOW Full Fibre 75, which adopts the same “Powered by Sky” approach as their 100Mbps tier. Where full fibre isn’t available, NOW Superfast (average speeds of 61Mbps) – a Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) product – will be available instead (also via Sky).
As a result, the old NOW Super Fibre, NOW Fab Fibre and NOW Brilliant Broadband packages are no longer available to purchase for new customers via NOW’s own website. Existing NOW Broadband customers will be able to keep their current NOW Broadband contract, at least for now. But they will “have the choice to move to a NOW Powered by Sky package when recontracting.”
Amber Pine, Sky’s MD of Connectivity, said:
“With data consumption exponentially increasing every year, customers need increased bandwidth, better reliability, and ultrafast speeds in the home. Full fibre is essential to the connected home and NOW Full Fibre 75 provides an additional speed choice for NOW customers. ‘Powered by Sky’, both NOW Full Fibre 75 and NOW Superfast packages, enable us to offer the best technology at the best value through the NOW brand.”
The new approach will no doubt be more cost-effective for Sky to maintain, while the refreshed packages also maintain a similar price point to those that came before. But quite why they haven’t gone any faster than 100Mbps yet is unclear, and this does raise questions about the future of the NOW Broadband.