Skys CEO Drops MVNO Bombshell At Results Conference

At the announcement of its results this week, Sky said that it was planning MVNO services based on the O2 network, which is run in the UK by Telefonica. Faultline has been forecasting a move by Sky into cellular for the past four years and is surprised that it has taken this long for the move to emerge.

The core Sky news was that it had revenue growth of 5 per cent and added over 100,000 new customers to Sky’s DTH satellite pay TV service, reaching £3.1bn in quarterly revenues ($3.8bn).

Sky also launched an OTT video service in Germany during the quarter called Sky Ticket; and offered an enhanced mobile TV proposition, Sky Go Extra, in Italy.

Sky is sure to make use of its sports rights franchises to drive MVNO uptake. A move in Germany and Italy will not be too far away, as Sky looks to emulate the shape of Liberty Global in those other markets and push a full quad play in the UK, and subsequently something similar in Germany and Italy.

There was no news about the much rumoured OTT video service that Sky is supposed to be launching in Spain, without support from satellite network.

Jeremy Darroch, group chief executive, said that the upcoming launch of Sky Mobile was a key focus during the past quarter, and that a number of final readiness milestones had been achieved, including successfully completing live calls, SMS and data sessions, and provisioning Sky’s own SIMs, and concluding international roaming agreements.

Darroch said, “Looking ahead, the forthcoming launch of our mobile proposition will add another major product offering to our UK line up and will give our customers the opportunity to take even more from a brand known for great customer service and quality products.”

Watch out, British Telecom.

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