Sky promises MVNO launch soon - don't hold your breath

Sky is about to put us all out of our misery and launch its MVNO product, or so it claims.

Back in January 2015, the team teased the industry naughtily with the announcement it would be entering the MVNO arena through a partnership with Telefónica UK, but like the husband who was tempted back from the pub on a promise, only to find a sleeping wife, we were left unsatisfied. Sky has long-operated in the triple-play market, but mobile has to date been a step to far. Not anymore.

“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,” said CEO Jeremy Darroch during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

The team has apparently achieved a lot over the course of the last three months, according to the team, and building up for the launch of the MVNO proposition is apparently one of said achievements. The team has now crossed a number of financial readiness milestones in preparation for the launch, and also completed first live calls, SMS and data sessions, provisioned its own SIMs, and concluded international roaming agreements. It would appear all systems are go.

Sky has been a triple player for some time, and has been particularly vocal in the industry over the last couple of months. As one of the founding partners of the Fix Britain’s Internet campaign, Sky has been particularly moany regarding the ongoing BT/Openreach saga. While some in the industry may sympathise with the poor chaps sitting around the Sky boardroom, the £2.1 billion revenues in the UK alone may take the sting out of heartache.

Elsewhere in the business, Sky seems to be flying. Group revenue was reported at £3.1 billion for the quarter, a year-on-year boost of 13%, with over 100,000 new customers joined Sky, including Italy’s highest Q1 customer growth in four years.

At the time of writing, Telecoms.com was not able to gather anymore details concerning the launch, though it would appear to be in the not too distant future.