Carphone Warehouse launches broadband TalkTalk

Posted on 11 Apr 2006 at 11:59

Carphone Warehouse has launched a new TalkTalk combined broadband and landline phone service that costs £20.99 per month.

Available to around 70 per cent of the UK population, the package comprises unlimited local and national landline calls, 24 hours a day; unlimited international landline calls to 28 countries, 24 hours a day; and up to 8Mbps broadband access. The cost breaks down as £11.00 line rental and £9.99 for phone calls and Net access.

Availability is restricted to households connected to one of the 1,000 BT exchanges in which Carphone Warehouse has, or plans to install, its own telecom kit. The company plans to complete this local loop unbundling process by May 2007; in the interim customers may be connected via a BT line.

'Our approach to business has always been about how little we can afford to charge our customers, rather than how much we can get away with,' said Charles Dunstone, chief executive officer. 'So today we are cutting more than 60 per cent off the cost of the average UK residential telephony and broadband bill, and additionally providing unlimited calls to 28 international destinations. The residential telecoms market in the UK will never be the same again. From today, broadband is a right, not a privilege.'

Like other companies that have invested in LLU, Carphone Warehouse is only installing its own equipment in those exchanges where it is deemed commercially viable. Rural areas are likely to be excluded from the price and performance benefits that have come as a result of the rapid rise in the number of LLU-based services over the past couple of years.

There are some conditions on the Carphone Warehouse service. These include a 40GB monthly downstream bandwidth limit (which the company managed to quote, in error, as 40Gbit on its press release), an 18 month minimum contract and a £29.99 connection fee. The service is available outside the area covered by the 1,000 exchanges for an additional £9.99 per month.

For more information and to find out whether you are within the catchment area go to www.talktalk.co.uk.

Author: Simon Aughton