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Ofcom invites suggestions on how to handle BT and Openreach
When Ofcom announced its new "Strategic Review of Digital Communications," the last of which forced BT to create Openreach, Sky and TalkTalk immediately came forward calling for both businesses to be broken up once and for all. Today, the regulator has published a discussion document for the review which details the different approaches now under consideration. Nothing has been left off the table, it seems -- they include keeping the current model, strengthening the controls that keep BT and Openreach's relationship in check, substantial market deregulation and, finally, complete separation.
TalkTalk's new (almost) gigabit broadband is actually affordable
While BT's broadband networks dominate the UK, other ISPs want to avoid giving their rival any more money by creating their own. Just yesterday, Virgin Media announced it had begun installing 152Mbps connections across Manchester as part of a £3 billion UK expansion, but now TalkTalk is going one better with the launch of Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO) broadband in York. Although it's effectively a gigabit service, TalkTalk has steered away from using the term, choosing instead to brand it under the UFO name. Homes and businesses in the city will enjoy up to 940Mbps, which is over six times faster than Virgin Media's current theoretical limit and 12 times quicker than BT's current fibre allocation.
TalkTalk's unlimited everything SIM is £12 per month but laden with fine print
The UK mobile market is undergoing a serious makeover, with two huge acquisitions on the horizon and new MVNOs popping up left, right and centre. Quad-play provider TalkTalk is already known for its low-cost broadband, TV and mobile deals, but now's a more important time than most to show you can stay relevant and competitive. Hence the company's latest promotion, which sees the launch of a SIM-only mobile tariff that gives you unlimited everything -- that's minutes, texts and 3G data -- for just £12 a month. Better yet, it's being offered on a 30-day rolling contract, meaning you don't need to sign up for a year or more of service to take advantage of the deal. Cheap, easy and tempting, right? Well, yes, but before you go cancelling whatever contract you're on now, know that there's a heap of terms and conditions attached to this otherwise attractive offer.
Sky and TalkTalk are itching for Ofcom to break up BT and Openreach
Back in 2006, Ofcom forced BT to set up Openreach, a separate division that manages its network infrastructure across the UK. The agreement struck between the pair was designed to give rival telephone and internet service providers (ISPs) equal access to BT's wide-reaching network of copper and fibre cables, promoting much-needed competition and, as a result, lower prices and better services for the consumer. Now, Sky and TalkTalk are urging Ofcom to split up BT and Openreach once and for all.
TalkTalk admits attackers stole customers' personal details
TalkTalk has enjoyed its fair share of positive press in recent months, thanks to its new carrier deal with O2 and the acquisition of Blinkbox Movies, but there could be some rougher times ahead. In an email to customers, the quad-play provider confirmed that it was the target of an intrusion at the end of last year, which saw attackers steal personal data including names, addresses, phone numbers and TalkTalk account numbers. The company says that it has confirmed a number of cases where scammers have used that information to tease more sensitive details like bank account and credit card numbers from customers.
Sky confirms launch of its own O2-powered mobile network
Talks between Three owner Hutchison Whampoa and O2 haven't yet reached a conclusion, but already some of the UK's biggest companies are keen to take advantage of a future merger. After briefly flirting with Vodafone in a recent trial, Sky has confirmed it will become a quad-play provider with the launch of its own O2-powered mobile network in 2016. According to Sky, O2's current owner Telefónica UK will provide access to the carrier's 2G, 3G and 4G services, allowing it to go up against BT, Virgin Media and also TalkTalk, which signed a deal with the operator in November, to offer phone, broadband, TV and mobile bundles.
Tesco has given up on Blinkbox
Since October 2014, Tesco has done all it can to rid itself of its loss-making digital download service Blinkbox. TalkTalk came to its rescue, picking up Blinkbox Movies and its broadband services earlier this month, but the fate of its Music and Books businesses remained unclear -- until today. In an announcement this morning, the supermarket giant confirmed it has offloaded Blinkbox Music to Guvera, a music streaming company that has offered users access to its free ad-supported service since 2008.
TalkTalk updates its mobile plans ahead of inevitable quad-play competition
TalkTalk has long been a friend to the price-conscious consumer, offering low-cost TV, broadband and mobile services as alternatives to pricier options from the Skys and EEs of this world. In recent history, however, it's been exploring opportunities beyond just "the basics," investing in fibre infrastructure, linking up with O2 to eventually provide 4G mobile coverage, and buying Tesco's Blinkbox streaming service. The company's clearly making sure it can stay competitive when everyone becomes a quad-play provider, but it's not forgetting its core values, as evidenced by the new spread of low-cost mobile tariffs announced today. As is tradition when providers refresh their plans, they take more brain power than you'd like to wrap your head around. But, let me try and simplify things with only as many tables and words as are necessary.
Sky will soon switch on adult broadband filters for indecisive customers
As part of David Cameron's plan to protect young internet users, broadband providers have been forced to offer an "unavoidable choice." This impels new subscribers to decide whether they want to enable or disable blocks on adult content. However, UK consumers have already highlighted their dislike for such filters, with only one in every seven customers letting the big four UK ISPs guard them from porn and the darker parts of the internet. One of those major providers, Sky, saw just eight percent of customers enable the option before July 2013, but that statistic could change drastically as part of new measures announced today.
Netflix begins rolling out on TalkTalk YouView boxes
You can access Netflix on pretty much anything these days, but until now TalkTalk's YouView boxes have been a notable exception. Thankfully, that particular omission has now been rectified, after the quad-play provider confirmed it'll be making the service available to its TV customers throughout the month. Netflix is already live on BT and retail YouView boxes and, last November, we were told the heavyweight streaming platform would make its way to TalkTalk's hardware "early in the new year." True to its word, the company is promising that all 1.2 million TalkTalk TV households will have access before January 30th -- just in time to binge-watch House of Cards before season three drops in February.
What's next for Blinkbox?
Tesco has been struggling of late, so its decision to sell Blinkbox to TalkTalk was hardly a shock. The supermarket giant isn't a technology company, at least not traditionally, and the video streaming service never really struck a chord with the British public. However, TalkTalk reportedly spent a smooth £5 million for the platform, so clearly it thinks the service still has some potential. If that's the case, what exactly is next for Blinkbox?
TalkTalk buys Tesco's Blinkbox and broadband services
It's been a long time coming, but Tesco has finally offloaded its loss-making streaming service Blinkbox. At the end of the last year, it looked increasingly likely that TalkTalk has positioned itself as the favourite to buy the service, and today the quad-play provider confirmed a deal has been reached. According to TalkTalk, Blinkbox's integration with its existing TV business will "begin immediately," with the benefits of the merger expected to show themselves by the end of the year.
TalkTalk is also in talks to buy Tesco's Blinkbox streaming service
It's no secret that Tesco is looking to offload Blinkbox, its loss-making streaming service, but it looks like the struggling supermarket giant may have finally found a buyer. According to the Financial Times, TalkTalk is now favourite to relieve Tesco of its movie rental platform, and while talks are still ongoing, a deal could be announced as soon as next week. The news comes almost a month after it emerged Vodafone was looking to buy Blinkbox, which would have allowed the carrier to move beyond its current partnerships with Sky and Netflix. With hundreds of thousands more customers on its books, TalkTalk would instantly gain a hold in the UK streaming market if it can reach an agreement, giving it more leverage against Sky, Virgin Media and what becomes of the potential £12.5 billion merger between BT and EE.
TalkTalk app lets customers use their landline package on a smartphone
Now that everyone and their dog has a mobile, landlines are less communication tool, more compulsory conduit for getting broadband at home. Free weekend calls and other concessions that come with landlines are usually wasted, but just as BT and Virgin Media did last year, TalkTalk has today announced a new app that lets its customers use their landline minutes and perks on their mobiles. The Talk2Go app, which has been knocking around the Android and iOS app stores for the past month, allows anyone with a TalkTalk landline to make calls over 3G, 4G and WiFi. Users may find it the cheaper calling option, depending on their home phone plan, or at least take comfort in knowing conversations aren't eating into their precious mobile minutes allowance. And because it can handle calls over WiFi like Three's inTouch or O2's TU Go apps, you don't need a mobile signal as long as you're in range of a hotspot.
TalkTalk ditches Vodafone to offer 4G plans with O2's help
As one of the UK's only quad-play providers, TalkTalk offers mobile plans alongside its TV, phone and internet packages. Since 2010, the company relied upon Vodafone's infrastructure to underpin its own network, but it's now decided it wants to try something new. In a joint announcement, TalkTalk and Telefónica (UK) today publicised an agreement that will see the UK media company switch across to O2's network, allowing the carrier to provide 3G and 4G services for its customers. With Virgin Media bundling mobile plans with its traditional home bundles and Sky thought to be readying the public launch of its own network (with Vodafone's help), TalkTalk now faces significant competition in the battle over low-cost tariffs. However, considering 9.5% of its total customer base already own one of its SIMs, the provider is already off to a pretty decent start. Update: Chatting with Bloomberg, TalkTalk's CEO said the partnership with Telefónica will go beyond simply using the latter's mobile network. With help from its new friend, TalkTalk wants to outfit its customers with femtocells (akin to small, indoor mobile masts), so they'll never have to worry about spotty mobile signal at home.
Netflix comes to BT and retail YouView boxes, TalkTalk early next year
BT said last week its TV customers would soon be able to access Netflix on their YouView set-top boxes. The news confirmed an earlier rumour that also named TalkTalk, which uses YouView hardware for its TV offering, as a potential Netflix partner. We suspected it was only a matter of time before TalkTalk made its own announcement, and today, YouView's done it instead. Netflix will indeed be available through TalkTalk's YouView boxes, though they're not due to receive it until early next year (interested customers can put themselves at the front of the queue by preregistering here). BT users will start seeing the new streaming option from today, and YouView owners who have purchased a Humax-made box outside of a TalkTalk or BT package are feeling the love today, too. YouView's also putting on an event later, suggesting this morning's Netflix news gives us just a small taste of what the company has planned. Update: Looks like the event later is just a celebration of the Netflix news.
TalkTalk to join the exclusive 'quad-play' club... sort of
Earlier this year, Virgin Media became the UK's first 'quad-play' provider, meaning it began offering one-bill bundles that include all four of its services: mobile, landline, broadband and TV. Soon enough, however, TalkTalk will be joining Virgin Media in the exclusive quad-play club. Well... not really, but close enough. Come December, any TalkTalk customers on the Plus TV package (which includes landline and broadband subscriptions) will get a free mobile SIM that includes 100 minutes, 250 texts and 200MB of 3G data each month. Existing customers can also pre-register for a SIM right now if they want it as soon as possible. TalkTalk will technically be offering four services in one when the free SIM deal launches, but is it a true 'quad-play' package when you can't choose your tariff, and you don't actually pay for the mobile element? Nevermind, let's not argue over semantics. A free SIM is a free SIM.
Netflix is coming to BT TV YouView boxes
BT today announced its second quarter financial results, but it's not the facts and figures we're interested in, as thrilling as they may be. All but hidden among tables and text is the news that BT's hooked up with Netflix, and pretty soon, the video streaming service will be available on the YouView set-top boxes of BT TV customers. When exactly, we're not sure, though BT told us it'll have additional info to share "in the coming weeks." What's more, to minimize fuss, you'll be able to tag a Netflix subscription onto your normal BT bill. Rumor had it that TalkTalk, which also uses YouView boxes, was in discussions with Netflix, too, so we'd be extremely surprised if TalkTalk didn't make an identical announcement soon. Whether YouView boxes purchased from the company itself will get access to the streaming service is another matter entirely, as direct-to-provider billing might have been key to sealing the deal.
YouView boxes finally granted the BBC's new iPlayer and red button features
The BBC's extensively redesigned iPlayer has been gradually lumbering its way onto different compatible devices since it was first launched earlier this year. YouView's hybrid Freeview/IPTV set-top boxes have, until now, been sorely neglected, which is somewhat strange given the BBC is one of YouView's principal investors. Well, better late than never, the new iPlayer has finally started rolling out to YouView set-top boxes, alongside the addition of the BBC's Connected Red Button features. If you're in possession of a YouView- or BT-issued box made by Humax (Huawei's also built a few), then these goodies will show up shortly, if not today. TalkTalk customers, however, are still playing the waiting game, though they can expect to receive the updates "in due course."
High Court forces UK ISPs to block websites selling fake luxury goods
Her Majesty's High Court of Justice has served as the stage for several high-profile cases in recent years that've resulted in UK ISPs being forced to block certain nefarious websites. Typically, these have involved entertainment giants that want to make it harder for illegal file-sharing sites like the infamous Pirate Bay to connect with their audiences. But now, ISPs have been given a new target: websites selling counterfeit goods. Said to be the first ruling of its kind in Europe, the High Court has today ordered that Sky, BT, Virgin, EE and TalkTalk -- which collectively provide 95 percent of all UK broadband -- must block a handful of websites that sell fake versions of products made by the likes of luxury brands Cartier and Mont Blanc.
