There is a usage meter which shows at a glance how much of your monthly usage you have used. There is also a table below the graph which will detail:
If you have previously reached 100% of your monthly usage allowance within a 6 month period, we will automatically send you an email notification when you reach 70% of your monthly usage allowance for the next five months. You can set up additional email alerts, however, using the alert tool at sky.com/usagetool.
All you need to do is choose to be alerted when you reach:
Then select Save Changes and the alerts emails will be activated.
Your emails will be sent to the preferred email address that you provided (you can view your email address within the Usage Tool). If you have a new email address that you would rather use, use the link next to the email address which allows you to update the primary contact email address we hold for you.
You can also view the history of the usage notification emails that have been sent to you, plus a graph of your historical monthly usage, going back to when the Usage Tool was introduced.
The usage policy won't affect the vast majority of customers, who are already on the most suitable package for their usage needs. It also won't affect customers on Sky Broadband Unlimited.
For those who do use more than their allowance, we will send you an email letting you know when you have gone over your allowance.
If you go over your allowance twice within a six month period, we'll move you to the next package up which will give you a higher usage allowance and possibly faster speeds (dependent on line quality and location). However you use the internet, you can be sure that in Sky network areas, we don't ever slow our broadband speed down.
We'll send the emails to your @sky.com address or the alternative email address you gave us. You can change the email address we use to contact you in the My Details section under the My Profile tab in My Sky.
The Usage Tool displays usage records gathered using the Sky Broadband unique user name and password your Sky router submits to authenticate into the Sky network. The records contain a count in raw data bits of upload and download traffic. Each record is tagged with other unique identifiers and then are collated into individual customer records. Sky only tracks your total usage and does not monitor the type of content.
If you've been advised that you've exceeded an allowance that is different to the allowance advertised for your package, this may be due to a recent change in your Sky Broadband package or the day that you pay your subscription. These changes would result in your usage allowance being pro-rated to the appropriate amount.
Sky Player is the home of Sky TV - but online. It's available to both Sky and non-Sky customers and works across all ISPs (Internet Service Providers).
If you are a regular Sky Player user, you would be much better off on Sky Broadband Unlimited. Our truly unlimited broadband service means you won't need to worry about your usage allowance, and as a Sky Broadband Unlimited customer you can watch live TV on Sky Player at no additional charge (a monthly subscription for live TV on Sky Player applies otherwise, except for Sky Multiroom customers who can also watch live TV on Sky Player at no additional charge). The live channels available for you to watch for free on Sky Player correspond to the channels that are part of your Sky TV subscription.
We sent an email to all customers that could be affected to clarify our usage policy at the end of September 2009, this was followed up with a letter confirming the new process and how it would work at the end of October 2009.
All subsequent notifications of usage allowance being exceeded were were sent by email, to the subscriber's @sky.com address or an alternative that they have given.
You can downgrade after one month on your new product. If you exceed your monthly usage allowance, you will be upgraded to a product with a higher usage allowance which is better suited to your internet needs. We feel that in using that new service for a whole month, you will have enough time to assess whether the service is indeed right for you.
Due to the way the usage data is gathered, we are currently only able to provide the usage data for customers on our own broadband network. The usage tool cannot provide information for Sky Broadband Connect accounts, but Sky Broadband Connect customers can read about policies specific to this service.
The six month usage tracking period is not reset when you are upgraded, so if you subsequently go over your allowance within that six month period your package will be upgraded again.
The usage data is updated in the Usage Tool every hour with a delay of approximately two hours. You can see on the Usage Tool the time of the last usage record to be updated.
As you become more experienced with the internet and make more use of it, over time it's natural for the amount of data you use to slowly increase.
Up until now, we have recognised that without giving customers the tools they need to monitor their usage, it is difficult for them to see how much they're using and may not realise that they could be going over their usage allowance.
We've always given customers the benefit of the doubt for occasionally going over their usage allowance, but now that we have given customers the tools to monitor and manage their usage, we believe customers now have the ability to gauge whether their broadband package is right for them.
Our broadband products have always had clearly defined usage allowances and Sky has always been able to tell which customers are going over their allowance. As stated within the Sky Broadband Terms and Conditions we can implement our usage policy at our discretion.
Now that we have put in place usage tools to help you monitor and manage your internet usage, we felt it was now fair to formalise the process of upgrading customers to more appropriate packages should they regularly go over their allowance.
So that you are kept informed we will contact you by email should you reach your allowance. If you haven't had an email from us about your usage, then there's no need to keep checking online. The majority of our customers are already on the right package, and our usage policy will mean that others will have the opportunity to experience a Sky Broadband package better suited to their needs, and you may also benefit from faster speeds (depending on your location and line quality).
And remember, if you are on the Sky network, we never slow down your internet connection or stop you from using the internet no matter how much you use.
Usage is any data that is uploaded or downloaded via your broadband internet connection. The following are examples of online activities which count towards your usage allowance:
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