Sky offers new customers gifts after price hike

After announcing price hikes for existing customers, TalkTalk competitor, Sky, is now offering free 32-inch televisions, £100 gift cards for Amazon or Tesco, or Samsung Galaxy tablets to new customers who sign up to a Sky bundle before 21 April. While new customers may have their packages discounted by up to £9 per month, existing customers will see their Sky bills rise by an average of £3 per month paying £36 extra per year.

Sky is offering a free 32-inch LG television to new customers who sign up to one of its bundles before 21 April - just weeks after announcing price hikes to existing ones.

The telecoms giant is battling to entice customers in with the free TV bribe. If they don't want the TV, they can grab a £100 Amazon or Tesco giftcard, £100 loaded onto a prepaid Mastercard, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab E.

The move may irk many existing TV customers who are in the process of being told prices are increasing across a number of packages from the start of June.

Sky is offering a free 32-inch LG television to new customers who sign up to one of its bundles before 21 April

Sky says the free TV offer is available across six bundles: The Original, The Complete, The Family, The Variety, Sky Movies and Sky Sports. Customers have to take out a 12-month contract.

Although Sky says the model can vary, standard 32 inch LG televisions retail for around £230 according to a quick search on Argos and Currys PC World.

It has also slashed the cost of some of these packages for new customers. The Sky Movies bundle for instance, which offers 270 channels including 11 specialist movie ones, is currently £29 per month for half a year instead of £38 per month.

Its priciest package -The Complete - has also been discounted. It has more than 350 channels, including movies and sports in HD, which is £74.75 for the first six months instead of £80 per month.

It comes as existing customers will typically see prices rise by around £3 per month, but the exact increase will depend on the package you subscribe to.

Those with the Original TV bundle will see a rise of between £1 and £2.50 per month, or £24 and £30 per year, depending on how much they currently pay, while those with the Variety, Family, Sky Q or Sky Q Silver bundle will see bills go up by £2 per month - or £24 per year.

Sky customers with phone lines and broadband saw a price hike four months ago, while its last TV price rise came in a year before the latest round is due to.

In terms of broadband, it has also slashed the price in half until 14 April to £5 per month. New customers who sign up to its broadband unlimited deal with also get a £75 M&S e-voucher.

It charges £17.40 per month for line rental and £6.95 for the router delivery.

Content focus: Sky says it is raising prices from June to invest in content and customer experience

Sky says the reason for price increases from June is to fund further investment in content and customer experience.

This includes investment in Sky Atlantic programmes, the new Sky Sports Mix Channel, and a new Sky Kids app for those on the Variety, Family and Sky Q bundles. It also says it will be showing more Premier League matches

If you're not happy paying the higher amount and you are no longer in the minimum term of your contract, you have the right to cancel your contract and leave Sky.

You will need to give 31 days’ notice and can cancel by calling Sky customers services.

But if you're still in the minimum term period - usually the first 12 months - you won't be able to leave because of these price hikes and will need to wait until you are out of this before cancelling the service.

It's been nearly four months since the last price rise from Sky which affected the cost of line rental and calls.

This rise, which was introduced on 1 December, pushed up the price of line rental to £17.40 from £16.40 per month.

Last summer on 1 June it also increased the price of its TV packages by around £30 per year.