Sky unleashes biggest ever broadband upgrade at a price that BT and Virgin can’t match

Sky Broadband has unleashed its fastest-ever speed – with downloads clocking in at 500Mbps. The full-fibre plan costs £45 a month when you sign-up to an 18-month contract. For comparison, BT charges £49.99 a month for 300Mbps, while Virgin Media customers can either pay £56 a month for 350Mbps, or £62 a month for 500Mbps. That makes Sky Broadband comfortably the most affordable option for these speeds.

But that’s not the only advantage of picking Sky over its biggest rivals.

Anyone who signs-up to Sky’s Ultrafast Plus package will be guaranteed download speeds of 400Mbps. Broadband speeds usually fluctuate throughout the day, with speeds on busy streets or estates taking a hit at peak times. Sky Broadband’s Speed Guarantee means you can claim a month’s subscription back if your speed falls below the minimum guaranteed speed.

BT and Virgin Media both offer similar schemes, but neither of these rivals is seemingly as confident in their ability to maintain speeds.

For example, BT’s Full Fibre 300 package only has a speed guarantee of 150Mbps. So, in order to claim from the telecoms giant, you’ll need to be regularly getting less than half of the broadband speed you’re paying for. Yikes. Virgin Media states that its M500 plan will usually deliver between 460 and 551Mbps, which is solid. However, the speed guarantee doesn’t kick-in until you’re getting below 258Mbps for three consecutive days.

If your speeds aren’t up to scratch after 30 days with BT, the company will hand over £20. It will also offer customers the chance to exit their contract without paying a charge for cancelling early. Likewise, Virgin Media has 30 days to resolve the issue. After that, it will also let you walk away and find a deal with a competitor before the end of your contract.

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Sky’s equivalent guarantee is a little more generous. If your download speeds fall below the 400Mbps mark for three days in a row in any 30-day period, the satellite broadcaster will refund the cost of the last month. To be eligible, you’ll need be within your minimum term but can claim up to twice. If it happens within the first 30 days of your broadband being activated, Sky will also refund your money for any upfront setup costs.

The latest broadband package from Sky is only possible thanks to full-fibre connections, so you’ll need to have next-generation fibre cables running to your door to be eligible. If there are still ageing copper cables in your street, you’ll miss out.

However, Openreach – which manages the cable infrastructure used by Sky – has already connected five million homes to full-fibre cables. According to its latest estimates, it’s on track to hit 25 million premises across the UK by December 2026. 

Sky’s 500Mbps Ultrafast Plus package is more than 10x faster than the UK’s average fibre speed.

That means you should have more than enough bandwidth for video calls, software updates, streaming music, online video games, and more. Busy households are unlikely to see any slowdown – enough if everyone is binging their own Netflix show in ultra-crisp 4K Ultra HD quality in separate rooms.

As you’d expect, there are no usage caps either. So don’t worry about downloading gargantuan PlayStation 5 games, gigabits of software updates for your iPhone, and more.

Director of Propositions at Sky Broadband Aman Bhatti said: “Today’s Ultrafast Plus launch reflects our commitment to providing customers with the fastest and most reliable broadband speeds possible. This is why Ultrafast Plus comes with the UK’s fastest Speed Guarantee, so our customers can game, stream, download and work from home seamlessly.”

Ultrafast Plus is available to new and existing Sky customers right now.