Sky has announced that its Sky Mobile TV service, is now available to 3 UK customers. 3 customers can now enjoy access to a host of channels, including the family of Sky Sports channels, Sky News, At The Races and CNN, for a monthly fee of 5 or on a pay-as-you-go basis for 1 per day, not including data charges.
The launch sees the service made available off-portal for the first time, meaning that Sky is hosting the TV experience outside of 3s own portal. Although promoted and accessed via Planet 3, when accessing the Sky Mobile TV service, all streams will be delivered via a dedicated video server. Sky says that this is the first time that premium live content has been sold in an off-portal model. The service is being supported by Skys mobile video delivery partner, Vidiator.
Sky says the fact that the service is hosted off-portal will prompt customers to consider taking an Internet add-on in advance of streaming videos. Internet add-ons are available from 3 for 2.50 a month for 10MB of data.
With more and more customers using their phones to access data rich services on the Internet, such as music and  TV, were delighted to welcome Skys successful Mobile TV channels, says 3s Director of Product Management, Fergal Walker. We know sport and news are major drivers of Mobile TV, so offering the likes of Sky Sports and Sky News to our customers ensures we continue to press ahead in delivering the best mobile Internet services.
Sky has been offering mobile content to all the major UK mobile phone networks for many years, and is currently the largest commercial provider of news and sports content to mobile phones with around 7 million unique visitors per month, both through mobile network portals and its own range of dedicated WAP sites.