Sky price battle begins for JCR presidents
Seven JCR Presidents have written an official letter of complaint to Sky after rocketing prices forced them to drop their subscriptions. As The Oxford Student reported last week, Sky had previously allowed JCRs to disconnect during the vacations, so that they only had to pay six months subscription every year. However, this summer Sky decided to end the concessionary rate, demanding that JCRs subscribe throughout the year.
In a letter to the head of customer service, JCR Presidents from Corpus Christi, Brasenose, Mansfield, Balliol, Lady Margaret Hall, Wadham and Christ Church said they wished to express their “regret and deep concern”: “Our Common Rooms can no longer afford to maintain the Sky service, which is a shame for both Sky, and for our students who enjoy the service.
“If the university were not a federation of colleges, might we expect to be paying only one subscription for the whole university rather than a separate subscription for each of the 39 colleges that chooses to subscribe to Sky? And why, as private residential and academic institutions, must we subscribe at the business rate?” they asked. At a meeting of JCR Presidents in second week, Student Union President Emma Norris was asked to look into the possibility of a University-wide subscription.
“I’ve spoken to their business arm, and they said they’re not willing to have a central subscription because of the collegiate system. “I have also asked about the possibility of a group reduction if all the colleges, or many of them, choose to subscribe, but they have yet to decided on that. Each JCR would still have to have a separate licence.” A spokeswoman for Sky said, “the original contract was an anomaly,” but declined to comment further.
3rd Nov 2005