Sky provides migration programme update
Sky New Zealand
PO Box 9059
Newmarket
Auckland 1149
New Zealand
10 Panorama Road
Mt Wellington
Auckland 1060
New Zealand
T. +64 9 579 9999
sky.co.nz
27 January 2025
Sky confirms preferred satellite option and provides migration programme update
As a further update to its announcement on 19 August 2024 and subsequent update at its 14 November
2024 Annual Meeting, Sky provides the following information on the status of its satellite supply:
Sky has been undertaking an ac
celerated migration plan to move from the current Optus D2 satellite to a
new satellite by May 2025. The accelerated programme was initiated upon advice from satellite provider
Optus that the current D2 satellite would reach the end of its commercial life earlier than anticipated. Optus
provided two replacement options and to da
te Sky has progressed a dual pathway satellite migration plan.
Sky can now confirm that several critical milestones have been met on its preferred satellite option. As a
result, Sky is now focusing its migration activity on the preferred satellite, which will be located in the same
orbital sl
ot as D2. The alternative satellite which is in a different orbital slot will remain a contingency option
for Sky, further improving security of supply for its customers.
Based on project updates provided by Optus as well as progress on Sky’s own programme milestones, Sky
remains confident that it can achieve mi
gration to the new satellite by May 2025, noting there remains
inherent technology and logistical risks to the successful migration, some of which are outside Sky’s control.
Sky will continue to prioritise a smooth transition for customers, noting that the preferred satellite
significantly reduces the near‐term requirement for home visits to cu
stomers (given the common orbital slot
with D2). Sky is aware that a growing number of customers have experienced intermittent signal disruption
in recent weeks following the decision by Optus to place the existing satellite into an inclined orbit to
conserve fuel. Sky is working with individual customers to remedy these issue
s, and has increased its
operational capacity in both Customer Care and in‐field services to take every step within its control to
ensure customer needs are met.
Sky is continuing to accelerate the rollout of the new, internet‐connected Sky Box and the IP‐only Sky Po
d,
alongside reminding customers of their existing complimentary access to companion app Sky Go which is
available to all Sky Box customers. These actions also serve to mitigate potential disruption in the lead up to
migration to the new satellite.
Sky is assessing the financial consequences of progressing the preferred sa
tellite option, as well as the
increasing cost and revenue impacts associated with providing additional near‐term, pre‐migration customer
support as the D2 satellite reaches end‐of‐life. While Management fully assesses the impact of the final
phase of the migration project, Sky advises that any revenue, opex or capex impac
ts will be treated as one‐
off items and therefore excluded from its normalized FY25 guidance and from the calculation of Free Cash
Flow for dividend policy purposes
1
. Sky will provide a further update at the time of its Interim Results.
1
Sky’s dividend policy is to distribute between 60% and 90% of Free Cash Flow, excluding one‐off items.
Sky con
tinues to receive assurance of security of satellite supply from Optus through to 2031 and is focused
on ensuring a successful migration by May 2025.
Ends
Authorised by: Kirstin Jones, Company Secretary
Investor queries to: Media queries to:
Amanda West Karina Healy
Investor Relations Head of Corp
orate Communications
Amanda.West@sky.co.nz Karina.Healy@sky.co.nz
+ 64 21 043 9674+64 21 085 08077
Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.