My sky card is comming next week. I called them (from my skype phone) and did the contract. Took me about 30 minutes (Indian call centre and the woman did not understand me too well. Lol.). But...... I made the mistake of telling them there was a landline in the house (my parents). If I tell them that the box is upstairs and there is no telephone point there will they activate the card from satelite?? Or will they insist on it being activated through the phone line?? My mate in Manchester who is a sky engineer said if the worst comes to the worst send him the box and card and he will activate it from there. But that is a last resort.

Hi, I think you will find you must have an active telephone line. You will have entered into a contract with BSKYB..... I think this is a 12 month contract. If you get your friend to activate the card for you it might work for a month or so. I do know they send a signal to your sky box every billing month and if they cant get the signal to go back to them you will default.

I used to work for them quite a few years ago, maybe this has changed but i doubt it.

Hope this helps.

Also this is a copy off the sky website

General: Prices shown for new customers unless stated otherwise. Pre-registration required for existing customers taking a Sky+HD box due to exceptional demand. Once registered you will receive an indication of when you can complete your order.

Your Sky box(es) must be connected to a fixed telephone line for 12 months.
Sky+/Sky+HD box prices may vary if you live in a flat. You must get any consents required (e.g. landlord’s). Minimum Sky TV/Sky+/HD Pack/Multiroom subscriptions 12 months. You must be 18 years or over. Prices subject to change. Prices shown apply to customers paying by Direct Debit. For continuous debit/credit card mandate, 50p monthly charge applies. Information only applies to residential customers in UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Further terms apply. Calls cost 5p per minute (plus up to 8p connection fee) for BT customers. Calls from other providers may vary. Correct at 1st October 2009.

Thanks for the reply. I was told that you can have a subscription without telephone line. We will wait and see. I also have the equipment already so I am not buying any discounted equipment from sky. For that reason I dont think they can demand that it is connected to a phone line.

I am sure you can get connected without a landline. Many people just have mobiles now.

You can get a subscription but you will not get the box at a discount - for that it must be connected for 12 months.

CBANDY has the box already so no problem without a line.

correct.
if you have a sky multiroom, or an installation by sky in the uk (where sky discount the installation xosts) then you muts have your box and card connected to the phone line - for a discounted installation for 12 month, or for the lifespan of a multiroom contract.

if you ordered a sky card and already have a dish and box then you do not need your equipment connected to a phone line.

in many cases many cards can be activated manually, just call them up with the details and off you go - the activation is done over the satellite anyways and not the phone line!

and i dare say the phoneline nuber on your sky account ill be used more for sales calls rather than anything else!

Thanks "The Guy" and everyone else. I just need to prepared on the phone if they ask me to plug it into the phone line. Lol. I´ll just say that it is not anywhere near a phone socket.

sometimes the old "the box is in the childrens room and i will not allow / they do not have a phone line in there" works....

There is another way of contacting Sky without having to worry about phoning from Spain.

Set up a MySky online account at https://mysky.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/mysky

You enter your personal details and Sky card number and then you can do various things online such as upgrade your package etc. The key thing is that they have an Email facility.

A friend had a problem last week as his card had been sent out from the UK but after 3 weeks still had not arrived and he was getting 15sec messages on the screen telling him to insert his new card.

I set up an account for him and emailed Sky. Less than half an hour later he had an email telling him that another card was in the post and the messages on the screen had gone away!

Hmmmm.... Wonder if it would work to activate the card. I will have a look tonight. I have my Sky id at home.

If they can cancel the warning messages I am sure they can do the same with activation - whether they are prepared to do so you will have to find out by trying it - you have nothing to lose - just tell them in the email that you don't have a phone line.

Can you get BB without a phone line in the UK ?

We have sky Freesat here in the UK, a one off payment for box and card, no telephone line needed. They will send us a new card whenever it is needed, but guarantee that the cost of the new cards will be no more than 19.99 a year. We get all the major channels, BUT no Sports Channels are available, but things like QVC are there, it's basically a big freeview package.

--------

I am very interested in your suggestion, and thank you for sharing the info. Can this be set-up from outside the UK, without SKY realising we are abroad? Wont they be able to tell from the IP address? Or doesnt it shows when registering? Just very concerned that I could make a mistake which would cancel my subscription. Cheers!