Sky and NOW increase contracts to 24 months

Sky TV and broadband contracts are increasing from 18-month to 24-month terms on all new plans taken out from today.

Meanwhile, Sky-owned NOW are also increasing their minimum terms to 24 months after just launching two new plans 'powered by Sky'.

Pricing for new customers is largely the same, so those signing up will be able to benefit from low introductory price offers for longer before needing to recontract or switch.

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Sky TV and broadband

Changes to minimum term contracts has been applied to all Sky broadband deals as well as bundled and standalone Sky TV plans too.

Contracts were previously 18 months, so the change isn't as major as for NOW who're increasing up from 12-month terms, and while customers are locked in for longer there are definite benefits to longer contracts as well.

Introductory price offers start from just £27 per month for Sky broadband, and these low prices last for the duration of the minimum term, with out of contract pricing increasing to £43 per month on the cheapest options.

New customers signing up to Sky broadband or Sky TV will be able to enjoy these lower introductory prices for an extra 6 months before they need to start thinking about re-contracting with Sky or switching away to a new deal with a new provider entirely.

Some of the best deals on Sky broadband include Sky Ultrafast with 145Mbps download speeds for just £28 per month, while WiFi Max with the latest Max Hub router and WiFi guarantee is reduced to just £3 extra, including on Sky Ultrafast Plus for £36 per month in total, and Sky Gigafast for £46 per month in total.

NOW Broadband

NOW Broadband have just this week launched two new broadband packages, NOW Full Fibre 75 and NOW Superfast to help them keep abreast of the full fibre roll-out.

Powered by Sky, these new deals, including the previously launched NOW Full Fibre 100, are sold via Sky.com and match much more closely to Sky's broadband line-up than before.

NOW Broadband can now be bundled with Sky extras including the Sky WiFi Max add-on for a faster router, and Sky's new Stream TV service.

Updated contract terms to 24-months comes alongside a slight price reduction in NOW's entry-level Superfast and Full Fibre 75 deals, from £24 per month at launch, to just £23 per month now.

The longer contract period will see new customers enjoying those cheaper prices for longer, although others may be disappointed to see the removal of the 12-month terms, which was fairly unique in the market.

NOW Broadband and Sky will join providers including BT, Plusnet and Vodafone who already offer 24-month terms, while TalkTalk and Virgin Media remain with 18-month offers at present.

The removal of NOW Broadband's Brilliant Broadband, Fab Fibre, and Super Fibre range of plans also sees the loss of their contract-free options which came with a £60 upfront fee for a flexible 30-day term.

This is perhaps more disappointing for many however, as now very few providers still offer flexible contract options on broadband anymore, and those that do are typically independent full fibre providers working only in select areas of the UK, meaning many households will now be unable to access flexible fixed-line deals and will have to turn to mobile broadband options instead.