TalkTalk (telecommunications company)

Infobox Company
company_name = TalkTalk Telecom Limited
company_
company_type = Limited
foundation = 2003
location = London, England, UK
key_people = David Thatcher, MD
Charles Dunstone, CEO
industry = Telecommunications
products = Home and Mobile telephone services and Broadband Internet access
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent = Carphone Warehouse
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.talktalk.co.uk/ www.talktalk.co.uk] & [http://www.talktalkmembers.com/ www.talktalkmembers.com]
footnotes =

TalkTalk is the landline telephone and ISP business of The Carphone Warehouse and was launched in 2003 under the directorship of Paul Halliwell, along with Neil Welch in sales, Sarah Thayne as Product Manager and Andrew Mckillican as Sales Assurance Manager. According to their own figures they had 1 million customers as of October 2007 [ [http://www.talktalk.co.uk/talktalk/servlet/gben-server-PageServer?article=MAIN.UK.TALKTALK.STATIC.COMPANY.HISTORY Brief History about TalkTalk launch of Free Broadband & Landline ] ] , and see themselves as one of BT's largest telecommunications rivals.

Originally solely a fixed landline provider, TalkTalk now operates several MVNOs such as TalkTalk Mobile, which led to the company allowing all calls between any TalkTalk landline and any TalkTalk mobile, or vice versa, free to consumers. It also offers Fresh Mobile and Mobile World along with its high-speed broadband internet service to home phone subscribers.

TalkTalk, like its parent the Carphone Warehouse, has expanded from the UK to other European countries. It now also operates in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and The Netherlands. [ [http://www.talktalk.co.uk/talktalk/servlet/gben-server-PageServer?article=MAIN.UK.TALKTALK.STATIC.COMPANY.HISTORY Brief History about TalkTalk launch of Free Broadband & Landline ] ] The company received negative press in 2006 and 2007 for offering a broadband product it was unable to supply in a timely fashion to many customers, and in 2008 for a practice known as data pimping.

Landline Phone Services

After its acquisition of Opal Telecom in November 2002, The Carphone Warehouse now had its own switching network providing access to BT Wholesales landline network for the first time. An initial trial was conducted in the Manchester region. Three months later, "TalkTalk" was launched with the slogan "landline calls for less", and a guarantee that calls would be cheaper than with their perceived chief competitor, British Telecom.

ales & Marketing

Marketing

Several high profile TV advertising campaigns commenced in 2003, initially under the first TalkTalk brand utilising the former public face of BT, Maureen Lipman. It appeared that TalkTalk was going head to head with BT with the slogan "It's good to Talk, but it's better to TalkTalk", mocking BT's "It's good to Talk" slogan. In the following years TalkTalk invested heavily in TV advertising and has won several awards for creativity. The company was criticised several times for making exaggerated claims such as "Free Broadband Forever" which later turned out to be misleading. [ [http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_41530.htm ASA Adjudication ] ]

Market Position

As of the 2008 annual report, ‘’TalkTalk’’ is the third largest Telecommunications provider in the UK generating revenues of approximately US$2.6 Billion, 31% of the groups overall US$8.5 Billion turnover. Currently, BT remains the dominant player, with Virgin Media second. [ [http://thomson.mobular.net/thomson/7/2735/3320/ CPW Annual Report 2008 ] ]

Criticisms and controversies

ponsorship

In 2004, TalkTalk won the sponsorship rights to Big Brother from the UK mobile firm O2. Sponsorship continued until the race controversy of Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 after which the company retracted it's sponsorship agreement. [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/18/carphone_warehouse_pulls_bb_sponsorship The Register, Carphone Warehouse Pulls BB Sponsorship ] ]

Telecom sales

In 2005 TalkTalk was accused of using the practice of telephone slamming (changing consumer's residential phone line over to a new provider without their consent). cite news
url=http://money.guardian.co.uk/phones/story/0,13283,1466811,00.html
title=When slamming the phone prompts a row
publisher=The Guardian
date=2005-04-23
accessdate=2008-04-30 ] Some cases were linked to instances of mis-selling by sales people on the doorstep or by telephone; other consumers reported that their personal data had been misused after buying mobile telephones from Carphone Warehouse. cite web
url=http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=399990&in_page_id=2
title=Phone scam hits thousands
publisher=Daily Mail
date=2005-04-25
accessdate=2008-04-30 ] These sales techniques exploited a loophole in British law which allowed consumers to change telecom service providers more easily.

"Free" broadband

In 2006 TalkTalk launched a promotion offering free broadband. The promotion attracted criticism when demand outstripped supply and the network systems were unable to cope with the consumer response.

;April 2006On 11 April 2006, TalkTalk started offering a free broadband service ("up to" 8 Mbit/s with a 40 GB monthly usage limit) for life to all subscribers to their Talk3 International telephone tariff at £20.99/month. Conditions included signing up to a minimum 18 month contract and a £29.99 connection fee.;July 2006The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) challenged TalkTalk on their free broadband offer. [cite web
title = ASA Upholds 3 TalkTalk Complaints
work =
publisher = ISPReview
date= 19 July 2006
url = http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?id=EEVFFpAEVyiMgnauyF
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-11-01 ] Soon after this challenge, TalkTalk began to offer free broadband on their cheaper Talk3 tariff. This allowed people to have unlimited telephone calls, broadband and line rental for £19.99 a month. This offer was available to new and existing customers, though broadband was only free for customers connected to a Local loop unbundling (LLU) exchange. As of July 2006, TalkTalk claimed that free broadband was available to 70% of the UK population. They hope that this figure will increase as British Telecom allow the unbundling of their remaining exchanges. Customers not on an unbundled exchange are charged a monthly fee for broadband access. Many users of TalkTalk Broadband do not experience the full 8 Mbit/s speed, as this depends on the extent to which the user's local exchange has been unbundled, and (as with all ADSL services) the distance from the exchange. Users not on unbundled exchanges get a fixed speed service at 0.5, 1 or 2M and not "up to 8M".

Some experts predicted this might provoke a UK broadband price war [cite web
title = Phone firm launches net price war
work =
publisher = BBC
date = 11 April 2006
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4898212.stm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-11-01 ] . Shortly following this report, Orange began to offer free broadband to users of their monthly mobile phone contracts, and Sky also began offering a variety of free or very cheap broadband packages to their subscribers.

Due to the unexpectedly high number of customers who signed up to the free broadband service, the launch suffered complaints with regard to a long waiting list to join the broadband programme and many difficulties in contacting TalkTalk customer services. In a Sunday Times interview, Charles Dunstone admitted that Carphone's TalkTalk business was "struggling to cope" with the more than 400,000 customers who signed up for high-speed internet access since the service launched in April. He also compared TalkTalk Broadband to "a little baby who’s waking up every two hours and is disturbing the family and making our lives a nightmare"." [cite news
title = Broadband 'nightmare' for Talk Talk
publisher = The Sunday Times
date = 23 July 2006
url = http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20411-2281303,00.html
accessdate = 2006-11-11 ]

;September 2006TalkTalk allowed customers to escape the binding 18-month contract for broadband "if it had failed to keep its service commitments in their case". [cite news
title = TalkTalk customers break contract shackles
publisher = The Register
date = 29 September 2006
url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/29/talktalk_lets_customers_leave
accessdate = 2006-11-06 ] ;October 2006On the BBC programme Watchdog (3 October 2006), Charles Dunstone stated "I got it wrong. I didn't realise that free broadband was going to have the effect on people it has." [cite web
title = Watchdog viewers have been complaining all summer about Talk Talk. It seems the company's broadband revolution stalls on customer service.
work = Talk Talk broadband
publisher = BBC
date = 3 October 2006
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/internet/internet_20061003.shtml
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-11-01 ] ;November 2006To the Mail on Sunday Charles Dunstone stated "In about 20% of customers there is some kind of problem with the phone exchange, the line, or something else. There is no point trying to pretend everything is all right. Our business exploded and we compressed the problems everyone in the industry has had into a few months. It has given customers nightmares and I just can't ignore complaints." [cite news
title = The Sunday interview: Charles Dunstone (the TalkTalk man)
publisher = Mail on Sunday
date = 5 November 2006
url = http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_id=414385&in_page_id=3
accessdate = 2006-11-06 ] [cite news
title = TalkTalk Free Broadband "a disturbing nightmare" says CEO
publisher = CNET
date = 8 November 2006
url = http://crave.cnet.co.uk/desktops/0,39029426,49285066,00.htm
accessdate = 2006-11-08 ]

A customer satisfaction poll by uSwitch places TalkTalk and Orange joint bottom for customer satisfaction. [cite news
title = Punters suffer in broadband price war
publisher = The Register
date = 14 November 2006
url = http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/14/uswitch_survey_oct
accessdate = 2006-11-14 ]

;January 2007The published figures show that by the third quarter of 2006, 540,000 users had been subscribed to TalkTalk broadband of which 132,000 were (TalkTalk) LLU lines.cite web
title = Carphone gets mixed reception as broadband stalls
publisher = Reuters
date = 12 January 2007
url = http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-01-12T090048Z_01_LAD002758_RTRUKOC_0_UK-CARPHONE-TRADING.xml
accessdate = 2007-01-12 ] In the third quarter trading update, the published figure was 413,000 customers unbundled, including 281,000 AOL Broadband customers. [cite web
title = Carphone Warehouse Trading Update, Released: 12/01/2007
publisher = CPW
date = 12 January 2007
url = http://www.cpwplc.com/cpw/ir/lse/rnsitem?id=1168585296nRNSL4202P
accessdate = 2007-01-12 ]

Roger Taylor (CFO) reported that the number of TalkTalk Broadband customers was lower than expected, but was forecasting 700,000 customers on unbundled lines (LLU) by March 2007.

In response to the sign up rate halving, The Carphone Warehouse has introduced a free 30 day trial for broadband customers. Charles Dunstone told staff this week that the free trial was "an attempt to give people the confidence to try it, despite what they might have heard". Customers will be able to cancel the contract within 30 days without incurring a penalty. [cite web
title = Carphone plugs TalkTalk
publisher = Noble House Media Ltd, Mobile Today
date = 16 January 2007
url = http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/15539.asp?men=2&sub=3
accessdate = 2007-01-17 ]

Data pimping

In early 2008 it was announced that the ISP arm of Talk Talk had entered into a contract (along with BT and Virgin Media) with the former spyware company Phorm (responsible under their 121Media guise for the Apropos rootkit) [ [http://www.f-secure.com/sw-desc/apropos.shtml F-Secure Spyware Information Pages: Apropos] ] [ [http://www.f-secure.com/sw-desc/peopleonpage.shtml F-Secure Spyware Information Pages: PeopleOnPage] ] to intercept and analyse their users' click-stream data, and sell the anonymised aggregate information as part of Phorm's OIX advertising service. [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/25/phorm_isp_advertising/page2.html ISP data deal with former 'spyware' boss triggers privacy fears] ] [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/29/phorm_documents/ How Phorm plans to tap your internet connection] ] The practice, which has become known as "data pimping", came under intense fire from various internet communities and other interested-parties who believe that the interception of data is illegal under UK law (RIPA). [ [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-home/article-23449601-details/Web+users+angry+at+ISPs%27+spyware+tie-up/article.do Web users angry at ISPs' spyware tie-up] ] [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/04/phorm_ripa/ Data pimping: surveillance expert raises illegal wiretap worries] ] [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/17/phorm_fipr_illegal/ Net think thank: Phorm is illegal] ] [ [http://www.fipr.org/080423phormlegal.pdf The Phorm “Webwise” System - a Legal Analysis] ] At a more fundamental level, many have argued that the ISPs and Phorm have no right to sell a commodity (a user's data) to which they have no claim of ownership. In response to questions about Phorm and the interception of data by the Webwise system Sir Tim Berners-Lee is quoted as saying:

"It's mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me." - Sir Tim Berners-Lee: 2008 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7299875.stm Web creator rejects net tracking] ]

Timeline

References

* cite news
title = Calling time on the Talk Talk fiasco
publisher = The Observer
date = 17 December 2006
url = http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,,1973619,00.html
accessdate =

* cite news
title = How bad has your experience of TalkTalk broadband been?
publisher = The Telegraph
date = 11 October 2006
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=P30&blog=yourview&xml=/news/2006/10/11/ublbizview11.xml
accessdate =

* cite news
title = ASA Adjudication - Free broadband forever
publisher = Advertising Standards Authority
date = 19 July 2006
url = http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_41530.htm
accessdate =

ee also

*The Carphone Warehouse
*Local loop unbundling
*Telephone slamming
*Charles Dunstone

External links

* [http://www.talktalk.co.uk/ TalkTalk website]
* [http://www.carphonewarehouse.co.uk/ The Carphone Warehouse website]
* [http://www.talktalkproblems.co.uk/ TalkTalkProblems consumer forum website ]
* [http://www.youtube.com/TalkTalkAds Archive of TalkTalk Commercial Video Clips]
* [http://www.maxxsave.co.uk/www-talktalk-co-uk-review Review of Talk Talk]