Sky could soon launch its own mobile network with help from Vodafone
When BT finally gets round to launching its own-brand mobile network running on EE's 4G infrastructure, it'll join Virgin Media and TalkTalk as a provider of all four main telecoms services: TV, internet, fixed-line telephone and mobile. This would leave Sky as the only rival telecoms company without a mobile offering, but a new trial with Vodafone suggests it, too, could be adding mobile to its product portfolio in the near future. As Mobile Today reports, 200,000 allegedly "handpicked" Sky customers were offered Vodafone's services as part of trial launched last month. It's not unreasonable, then, to hypothesize that this is the preliminary stages of Sky launching its own MVNO based on Vodafone's network.
The two companies already have a working relationship, with Sky Sports Mobile TV one of the optional perks bundled with Vodafone's 4G tariffs. While an MVNO partnership is still just speculation, Sky's CEO Jeremy Darroch hasn't exactly been subtle about how close the pair could potentially become. Speaking recently about the company's latest financial results, he said the alliance "could grow into something more meaningful," and commenting on BT's impending mobile launch, he declared: "If an opportunity arises we are well placed to respond." Kinda sounds like a done deal already.
