Broadband for armed forces families on a posting

The Ministry of Defence's announcement of 27 March 2017 says a few more things worth knowing:

• The commitment came into force immediately, and the MOD said it would benefit tens of thousands of Forces households in the UK and abroad.
• It talks about broadband and media packages and doesn't mention mobile phone contracts, so don't assume it reaches your mobile.
• It sets out no conditions, evidence requirements or notice rules; those are left to each provider.
• BT's then chief executive said personnel shouldn't pay for services they can't access; TalkTalk's said it was the first ISP (internet service provider) to offer free disconnections for personnel moving overseas.

Treat it as the reason to ask, not the answer. The NFF still lists it as a Covenant achievement.

GOV.UK describes the Armed Forces Covenant as a promise from the nation that those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly. Its text says they should face no disadvantage compared with other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services.

For a business, signing is a voluntary pledge: signatories agree to uphold the principles, are encouraged to make specific pledges, and can be removed from the register by the MOD if they act against the Covenant's spirit. The separate Armed Forces Covenant Duty is a legal obligation on certain public bodies, with guidance on healthcare, education and housing; GOV.UK doesn't present it as applying to broadband providers.

So a pledge tells you what a provider has promised in principle; the proof, notice and charges come from its own help pages and terms.

GOV.UK has a list you can search of businesses that have signed the Covenant; each listing shows the date signed and any bespoke pledges. For mobile phone companies not on its own list, the NFF suggests checking the company's website for an Armed Forces policy or point of contact. The same check is worth doing on your broadband provider's help pages before you call.

Sky's Covenant listing on GOV.UK (Sky signed in June 2019) includes a bespoke pledge on waiving cancellation charges for broadband and media packages when armed forces personnel are posted overseas or to another part of the UK. Separately, Sky's supporting-documents help page lists "Armed Forces Abroad or within the UK" among the reasons it may ask for proof when you cancel Sky Broadband, so it can decide whether early termination charges (ETCs, the fee for leaving during your minimum term) can be removed. The page doesn't mention the Covenant. The steps it sets out:

1. Cancel Sky Broadband and tell Sky you're cancelling because of an Armed Forces posting.
2. Once the cancellation has gone through, email your document to etcs@sky.uk with the reason you've cancelled and your account details. Sky wants a document that confirms your posting or relocation, and the example it accepts is a letter or email from your line manager confirming the dates of your deployment.
3. Don't send anything else about the posting. Sky says other information linked to a posting is sensitive and shouldn't be sent, and it won't accept poor-quality documents that are hard to read.
4. Send it within 12 days of the cancellation date if you can. ETCs are applied 16 days after cancellation completes, and charges that need proof aren't removed until the proof is accepted.
5. Sky aims to review documents within 72 hours and emails you if they aren't accepted so you can send other proof. You have up to nine months; if accepted after you've paid, Sky credits the charges back.

So it's a review, not an automatic waiver, and the page doesn't mention posting orders.

There's a second route if Sky can't serve the address you're posted to. Sky's April 2025 broadband terms let you end the contract without ETCs if you move home and your product isn't available at the new address, and the same help page lists "Can't have Sky at New Address" as a reason, with a document showing your new address (a signed tenancy agreement, for example) as proof. On notice, the terms ask for at least 31 days if you leave at or after your minimum term without switching, or switch outside One Touch Switch; our guide on how to cancel Sky Broadband explains why its help page gives a different figure. For the moving-home side of a Sky or NOW account, see moving home with Sky or NOW.

We found no BT page on Armed Forces postings, so BT's position is not stated. BT Group's Covenant listing (signed January 2017) doesn't mention broadband cancellation charges.

BT's home phone and broadband terms (clause 13c) say you won't pay early-exit compensation if, among other exceptions, you move home and BT can't provide a service at your new UK address. They don't mention postings. BT asks for 30 days' notice to cancel; if you switch through an approved switching process, its terms (clause 13c) say the agreement ends on the date the switch completes. It asks for about a month's notice of a home move. See moving home with BT, EE or Plusnet for how a BT move works.

We found no Virgin Media page on Armed Forces postings, so its position is not stated. Its Covenant listing (signed October 2013) doesn't mention broadband cancellation charges either. Its cancellation help page covers moving to an area where its services aren't available, and says you can cancel with 30 days' notice. In a separate, general answer about fees, the same page says you may have to pay a cancellation fee during your minimum period and that in some cases Virgin Media may be able to credit it back; it doesn't say which cases. See moving home with Virgin Media.

EE has a military discount page, but it's an offer on mobile airtime that excludes home broadband. We found no EE broadband page on postings, so its position is not stated. EE needs 30 days' notice to cancel broadband and charges an early termination fee in the minimum term. For a move, it asks for ideally three weeks' warning and tries to provide like-for-like services at the new address, or tells you the alternatives.

TalkTalk's GOV.UK Covenant listing pledges to exempt service personnel from contract termination fees when deployed overseas. BT bought TalkTalk, including its wholesale arm PlatformX, out of administration in October 2026, and a regulatory review followed. BT's page for TalkTalk customers says existing contracts and commitments continue as normal, and the two stay separate during the review. If you're a TalkTalk customer, ask TalkTalk directly how the pledge applies now. For any other provider, use the GOV.UK search described above, then ask.

The AFF explains that SFA charges are set using CAAS, the Combined Accommodation Assessment Scheme, and taken from the serving person's pay. Broadband already counted in the CAAS banding, but since April 2025 that part uses Ofcom data, and the minimum download speed has gone up from 24 Mbps to 100 Mbps (megabits per second, the usual measure of broadband speed).

Ofcom's data can vary within a postcode, the AFF notes. If you think the Ofcom baseline can't be reached at your SFA, its route is:

1. Contact Ofcom about the speed at your address.
2. Once Ofcom confirms the average speeds can't be achieved, submit a CAAS Stage 1 challenge.
3. Do it in writing within 28 days of receiving your final banding letter, which normally comes at move-in. Challenges have to be based on factual errors. The AFF's charges page gives the address to send it to.

Our broadband speed test gives you your own record once connected, but the AFF route starts with Ofcom, not a home test.

In Single Living Accommodation (SLA), the AFF says occupants pay for any broadband or Wi-Fi they need for private purposes. If you'll move again soon, our guide to rolling monthly broadband contracts explains the trade-offs of not tying yourself into a long term.

Overseas, broadband is a local arrangement, as two AFF posting pages show. In Cyprus, quarters have a telephone port but aren't connected to a service, and CYTANET or Cosmos Wireless supply fixed phone and broadband. At BATUS in Canada, quarters also have a telephone port with no connected service, and only Shaw serves Ralston village. In both places the AFF says packages cost more than in the UK. Our guide to UK broadband when you move abroad, linked in the first table, covers keeping a UK number and email going.