Sky Mobile launches with unlimited data rollover, simple and aggressive pricing [Updated]

Updated, January 5: Sky Mobile is now widely available, and not just for existing Sky TV users. Just head along to the Sky website and pick up a SIM at your leisure.

Original story (November 29)

Sky, the TV and broadband provider, has unveiled its new mobile network—and, at least at first glance, it looks rather exciting indeed.

Sky Mobile is clearly designed to be user-friendly: unused data automatically rolls over for up to three years; you can change your plan as often as you like (but you are locked into a 12-month contract); and you can opt for a monthly data package combined with pay-as-you-go calls and texts, rather than being forced into a contract that includes unlimited calls/texts.

Unsurprisingly there are also some sweet deals for Sky TV users: your entire household gets free unlimited calls and texts (up to five SIMs), plus there's a service called "Sync" that lets you sync your favourite TV shows from your Sky+ box at home to your handset.

The service, which is rolling out now to those who registered interest, is SIM-only for now. The service will fully launch in early 2017, and from spring 2017 they'll offer a range of smartphones. Sky says that the iPhone and Samsung are confirmed; no word on pricing, though. Sky Mobile uses O2's network of cell stations (i.e. it's an MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator). Tethering is fully supported with no limitations.

Data rollover is likely to be the killer feature. Any unused data is automatically moved into a "piggybank of data" (Sky's words) at the end of each month. It's stored there for three years, then you lose it. Then, at some point in the future when you run out of data, you can log into your Sky account and take some data out of the piggybank in 1GB increments. It works for family accounts, too: the owner of the account can assign 1GB to Little Timmy who is doing "research" on his phone after lights out, a few gigs to Steve because he's travelling, and keep the rest for herself.

There are no overage costs on Sky Mobile; use all of your data, and it simply stops working until you upgrade your package or allocate some data from the piggybank.

Pricing for the SIM-only product is fairly aggressive if you're a Sky TV customer—or if you're in that growing group of people who don't send texts or make calls. With Sky Mobile you choose a data package, and then decide whether you want to add unlimited calls/texts. It's £10 per month for 1GB, £15 for 3GB, and £20 for 5GB. Unlimited calls/texts is £10 per month, or free if you're a Sky TV customer. That's it; pretty straightforward.

At publishing time, EE and Vodafone cost £22 per month for 5GB and unlimited calls/texts; Three is £17 for 4GB and unlimited calls/texts; Virgin Media is a little bit cheaper at £15 for 4GB and 2500 minutes/unlimited texts. BTEE, which also has some sweet deals for its own broadband customers, is a mixed bag: £15 for 2GB, 500 minutes, and unlimited texts (not quite as good as Sky); or £20 for 15GB and unlimited calls/texts (better value than Sky).

Sky Mobile, according to the company, was conceived by committee; they surveyed 30,000 people on how they use their mobile phones, and then created a mobile network that ticks most of those boxes. Apparently Sky found that, on average, consumers only use half of the mobile data that they've paid for—which extrapolates to around £2 billion per year or £50 per smartphone user spent on unused data. Sky's survey also revealed that consumers actively choose larger data allowances than they actually need, to avoid the expense and inconvenience of running out of data later on. I have a feeling that Sky Mobile's piggybank system could win over a lot of customers.

Tech-wise, Sky Mobile is an MVNO that piggybacks on O2's cellular network. The company stressed that it is a "deep" MVNO, essentially using O2 for the radio interface and nothing more. Sky told me that it had spent about two years developing the network for its mobile service, which is then closely connected to the extensive network that the company uses for its broadband service—including stuff like CDN nodes for improved video delivery. Sky wouldn't be drawn out on whether having complete control over its network would actually equate to better or more reliable performance, but I think that's mostly because they just haven't done enough testing yet.

Sky confirmed that Wi-Fi calling is coming, but it won't be ready at launch. Other services like VoLTE are on the table, too. There are no Sky Mobile discounts for broadband customers, nor does it integrate with Sky Q (just the Sky+ box).

When asked "Why O2?," I was told that Sky did a reverse auction: EE, Three, Vodafone, and O2 were told to make Sky Mobile an offer that it couldn't refuse—and O2 won. The deal with O2 was signed back in January 2015, apparently just days before details of the stillborn Three-O2 merger were made public.

I pushed Sky's Vince Russel on a range of other topics, such as the upcoming 2.3GHz spectrum auction, but I was mostly met with a smile, a spread of the hands, and a recurring refrain: "We have an open mind; we want to get the service up and running first, then respond to consumer demands."

If you want to sign up for Sky Mobile, head along to the website.