Sky UK Services

Sky UK Services

Sky Uk is a pioneering television channel producer and broadcaster company which also functions as a telecommunications company and it’s one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world, having over 11 Million subscribers. In this chapter we would like to talk about some of the key services provided by Sky which is based in the United Kingdom. Please note that while some of Sky’s television channels are available outside the UK, the below services are only meant for the UK market.

Direct-to-home satellite service: Sky has launched as the first satellite television provider in the United Kingdom and it was also the first who started to advertise and sell direct to home satellite TV packages. This meant that the viewers will also get a satellite dish alongside a decoding machine in order for them to be able to view the channels of Sky exclusively. The idea of the decrypting machine came from the US where it’s been used for a longer time.

Pay per view: Sky also was a pioneer in terms of providing pay per view channels (in fact starting up with those) outside the United States. Pay per view means that viewers need to pay a specific sum in order to watch either one single program or watch one single channel for a specific period of time. Sky Anytime service: Sky was the very first company which has devised a pay per view method in order for viewers to be able to rent out movies and watch them. Today, this is still a service Sky is offering, although the current system is rather internet based.

Sky Anytime +: Sky was among the first British TV companies who have devised a system to provide viewers a chance to catch up with the programs they have missed but would like to re-watch.

Game consoles: Sky has decided to transition to game consoles in 2009 and from that point on it has made a specific channel called Sky Go which is specifically available on game consoles. The first console was Xbox360 but this soon were followed suit by making the programs available on PlayStation 3 and 4 likewise. From this point on users were able to purchase TV programs and episodes straight from the video store of game consoles.

Internet: Sky’s first internet purchase was Easynet which the company bought in 2005 in order to keep up with the competition who at that time have already started to come up with triple and quad play packages. In 2013 Sky UK bought O2 and Be’s internet services and in parallel it has bought up the parent company called Telefonica too. The main target of the acquisition was to not only gain internet but also telecommunication lines in order for Sky to start up with a complete set of telecommunication services.

Mobile Telephony: the most recent service of Sky has been released recently in Oct 2016 offering mobile devices alongside mobile packages and quad play packages (TV, internet, landline and mobile phone services with device) for its customers.