PRESS RELEASE
Millions more families across the UK are enjoying the internet in safety following the successful roll out of Sky Broadband Shield. Sky's award-winning free internet filtering and safety tool is now active in over 70% of the homes in the roll-out to customers who had not previously made a choice, with the majority of families keeping the parental controls in addition to the malware and phishing protection Sky Broadband Shield provides.
Following the introduction of Sky Broadband Shield in 2013, Sky initially asked its existing customers to choose whether or not to turn Sky Broadband Shield on, and new customers were required to choose whether or not to turn it on at activation. Beginning in January 2015, Sky then rolled Broadband Shield out to all customers who hadn't already made a choice about whether to activate it or not.
Sky took the decision to roll out Sky Broadband Shield to customers after the Government challenged ISPs to look at how they protected children and families online. By making the default position of Sky Broadband Shield 'on' and making it easy to adjust or decline at any time, Sky gave customers a choice about whether they wanted the protection whilst making their online safety a priority.
Throughout the six-month roll-out, Sky received just 27 calls from customers asking for help, underlining the simplicity of the product and user-friendly approach.
Sky's decision to give customers a choice about Broadband Shield whilst making the default position 'on' meant that many more customers took an active interest in what the product offers. When customers were previously emailed and asked to choose, less than 5% engaged. This evidence supports Sky's unique approach as the safest and easiest way to protect families online.
Last week Sky launched its best-ever fibre broadband offer of Superfast Sky Fibre broadband free for 12 months, giving switching customers even more choice and better value. As Sky makes superfast broadband more accessible and more people choose Sky Broadband for better quality and value, it becomes increasingly important to ensure the entire family can enjoy the internet safely.
Lyssa McGowan, Director, Sky Broadband comments: "As more customers choose Sky for better quality and value, we are committed to ensuring everyone can choose to enjoy the internet in a safe environment. We're proud of Sky Broadband Shield and the approach we took to ensure that millions more people are safer online."
Free to all customers, Broadband Shield is a simple tool that gives customers the ability to enjoy the internet in a safe environment. With its watershed feature, families can protect their children from unsuitable content yet have the flexibility to pick and choose the categories that are filtered and the time of day this happens.
With a diverse base of millions of broadband customers, the ability to activate, adjust or decline depending on the level of protection customers need for their home is an added benefit. It means that no families are left unprotected unless they choose to be.
Sky Broadband Shield is part of Sky's commitment to internet safety and protecting children online. Sky supports Internet Matters [www.internetmatters.org], providing guidance and resources for parents including advice on a variety of parental concerns including inappropriate content, cyber bullying and radicalisation as well 'how-to' guides for setting up parental controls on a range of devices.
For more about Sky Broadband Shield, click here.
For more information on the offer and Sky Fibre visit sky.com/fibre.
About Sky:
Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company. The group serves 21 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.
Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).
For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate.
