Sky and TalkTalk form ultra-fast broadband alliance to outpace BT speeds

Sky and TalkTalk form alliance for ultra-fast internet
Watch out BT, they're coming for you

In a move to get around BT's broadband monopoly, Sky and TalkTalk have announced that they're teaming up to build their own – and it's going to be even faster.

The duo will be working with network provider CityFibre bringing fibre-optic connections to several UK cities, capable of pumping speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, beating Bt Openreach's 300 megabits per second.

Joe Garner, CEO of BT Openreach told TechRadar that the company "welcomes the competition" from Sky and TalkTalk.

"Openreach  already offers Fibre To The Premises in parts of York," he said. "This means that  customers and businesses in the City will have even more choice which  can only be a good thing.  We will continue to respond to our customers  evolving needs."

If you can't beat them, join up

The first city that Sky and TalkTalk are targeting is York, but the plan is to roll ultra-fast broadband out to two more currently unnamed cities in the UK.

As Sky said in a statement, this is the first time that such high speeds have been available on a city-wide basis.

From 2015, people in York will be able to opt for Sky or TalkTalk (the two will still be competing for customers) instead of BT, with more details to follow in "due course".

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.