Broadband News

Successful year for TalkTalk

(06-06-07) - TalkTalk (visit www.talktalk.co.uk), the consumer phone and broadband arm of the Carphone Warehouse, has had a successful year according to figures released this week.

The 12 months up to 31st March 2007 saw TalkTalk launching its Free Broadband service and acquiring AOL’s internet customer base in the UK, and the ISP is now ranked number 3 in UK residential broadband and voice services. (visit www.aol.co.uk)

However, Carphone Warehouse’s profit before tax is down by 9.5% to £123.1 million after start-up losses of £80.5 million were incurred through the launch of broadband and Virgin Mobile in France.

In total, Carphone Warehouse’s revenue has grown by 31.0% to £3991.5 million over the year.

Carphone Warehouse’s CEO, Charles, Dunstone, said: “TalkTalk Free Broadband has changed the UK broadband marketplace and, coupled with the acquisition of AOL's UK customer base, we are now number three in the market.

“We have exceeded our targets for unbundling local exchanges and have launched Britain's first large scale next generation network, delivering voice and data over a unified infrastructure… Demand continues to be strong and customer confidence in the service is increasing.”

Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at www.broadbandchoices.co.uk, commented: “The demand for TalkTalk’s ‘free broadband’ deal was astounding, so customer service levels dipped when Carphone Warehouse couldn’t cope. Now that TalkTalk has clawed back some of its service reputation and revenue, we hope the company has learned from its mistakes.”