[Stuart]

It's less a policy in itself, and more a hangover from the previous business model which saw customers buy and own their equipment instead of renting it. This business model meant that Sky have to support far older equipment than they might otherwise like, or face losing subscription revenue from long-time customers.

It's the same reason they were stuck with a restricted number of EPG positions (back in the days when that mattered) - the limit reflected the very earliest Sky Digital boxes which could store no more.

I'm fairly sure that Sky's STBs were provided free even before the BSB merger and was a contributing factor to why one company came out on top. One of them had very deep pockets.

I don't think they they had any reluctance to replace the STBs, as the technological evolution allowed extra fancy bits to be added for a slight increase in the subscription which also gave customers a new bit of kit. The customer always owned it from the first day.

My DRX890 Sky+HD box may be old now, but I only pay £10 a month for the recording and downloading functionality, which gives me access to all the HQ picture catch-up services. When it eventually breaks it will just go in the bin, but for now it's just the ease of use I stick with together with Prime (from the delivery service) and some months Paramount+ or Netflix through the Fire Stick.