Big news if you're a Sky Broadband customer - not only is the satellite giant launching its own fibre-optic network with up to 40Mb download speeds - free Wi-Fi access from The Cloud is also set to rain in.

Sky Broadband Unlimited Fibre is landing in April and will initially be available to around a third of households in the UK - a figure that will rise as BT gets increased infrastructure in place. It will mean download speeds double that which Sky Broadband Unlimited customers currently get, although it will cost a bit more at £20 per month (if you're a Sky customer already).

There will be a £50 installation charge but Sky is promising totally unlimited data with no usage caps at all.

The free Wi-Fi access from The Cloud comes exactly a year after BSkyB confirmed that it has completed the purchase of the hotspot company in a deal that was said to have cost around £50 million. Landing "shortly" the service will mean Sky Broadband Unlimited customers will be able to hook-up with more than 10,000 hotspots across the UK for faster mobile broadband.

Stephen van Rooyen, MD of Sky’s Sales and Marketing Group said: "I’m delighted that our existing home communication products are making such an impact with customers. It’s clear that customers are responding to the higher levels of value, quality and service we offer.

"This year sees a number of enhancements that will ensure we create even more choice. Whether it’s the launch of free public WiFi, extending our network into more parts of the UK, or adding fibre to our product mix, we are focused on meeting the demands of customers and on being their number one choice for home communications."

Sky has also announced that it is growing its broadband reach with a million extra homes to be included by June 2013, meaning 88 per cent of the country will be able to join the party.