TalkTalk

The last thing we heard from TalkTalk regarding connection fees for online orders for broadband is that they were to be free indefinitely.

Noting that ‘indefinitely’ doesn’t always mean forever, we’ve been checking back at the TalkTalk website and we’re pleased to report that this is still the case.

Connection normally costs £29.99 but is still free for those who order either of the Essentials or Pro packages from TalkTalk online

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BT has allegedly been talking to telecoms regulator Ofcom about opening their cable ducts to rival competitors.

According to a piece in the Financial Times allowing rivals to use the company’s infrastructure to run their own high speed broadband networks.

This has come to light recently as the Conservatives suggested that if they won the election they would ‘legislate to force BT to open its ducts’.

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Broadband Britain has become almost as big a political battleground as Broken Britain as the race for the upcoming election gathers steam. The Conservatives have unveiled plans to deliver “super-fast broadband” to the majority of UK homes by 2017, part of which could be funded by the BBC licence fee.

In yesterday’s Guardian, Shadow chancellor George Osborne said that an incoming Tory government would deliver speeds of up to 100Mbps and that the UK could be the first European country to have super-fast broadband speeds.

Private investment would be allowed to pay for better cabling for the broadband expansion and as a backup, the BBC - whose iPlayer has driven demand for faster broadband - has put aside 3.5% of the licence fee to fund the project.

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Yep, you read that headline right. In one of the most audacious moves in the UK broadband sector yet, TalkTalk has just announced via the Carphone Warehouse website that it will be offering its Essentials broadband service for 24 month contracts, 12 months of which will be absolutely free.

TalkTalk Essentials provides top speeds of 8Mbps comes with a 40GB download cap and normally costs £6.99 a month plus £11.49 for line rental when taken as a 12 month contract. If you sign up for 24 months you’re essentially getting two for the price of one saving you over £200 (£6.99 = £11.49 x 12 months = £221.76). The only thing you’ll have to pay for for the first year of the contract is the £29.99 connection fee.

Currently it doesn’t look like there are plans to roll out 24 month contracts for TalkTalk’s premium TalkTalk Pro which provides unlimited downloads and top speeds of 24Mbps for £14.99 a month plus £11.49 a month for line rental.

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TalkTalk has completed its takeover of Tiscali, retiring the brand name in the process. “From today, the Tiscali brand is no more and we’re committed to giving all of our customers absolute clarity about who we are, the services we provide and the prices we charge,” said Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk’s CEO.

TalkTalk tariffs are now standardised meaning that the majority of customers should see a reduction in their bills, although in some cases prices could rise.

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The great file sharing debate just went Bono shaped. The U2 singer has waded into the Digital Economy Bill debate with his usual diplomatic panache, pointing the finger of blame at the doors of the ISPs.

In a piece for last Sunday’s New York Times, Bono wrote “We’re the post office, [the ISPs] tell us; who knows what’s in the brown-paper packages? But we know from America’s noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it’s perfectly possible to track content.”

His comments have been branded as ‘outrageous’ by TalkTalk who of all the UK ISPs has been the most vocal in its opposition of the Digital Economy Bill.

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A lot has happened in the UK broadband market in 2009. Here’s a quick round up of the some of the big changes in broadband that have taken place over the last 12 months.

Tiscali gets bought by TalkTalk

Poor old Tiscali spent 2008 looking for a buyer without success and its woes continued into 2009. Despite many ISPs sniffing around hoping to steal a quick march on BT, nobody was willing to dig deep in their wallets. With deals collapsing at the last minute and its parent company losing millions of Euros on the continent times looked bleak for Tiscali’s UK arm. Then TalkTalk came to the rescue at the eleventh hour and swept Tiscali of it’s feet.

Speeding Up

2009 has seen a lot of speeding. BT, Orange and PlusNet all revved up their top download speeds to 20Mbps and 24Mbps in the case of Eclipse Internet. BT also released the Broadband Accelerator speed booster pack allowing customers to benefit from a more reliable broadband experience.

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When TalkTalk replaced its offer of M&S vouchers with free connection to its broadband services (normally charged at £29.99) it was understood that the offer would expire on the 15th of December.

We’ve just heard from TalkTalk that the offer is to be extended for an indefinite period - no date has been given but we’re told that this is a “limited time offer” so if you want to cash in, we’d suggest you get your skates on.

Free connection is currently available to customers ordering the Essentials or Pro packages. TalkTalk Essentials provides download speeds of up to 8Mbps a 40GB monthly download limit and evening and weekend calls for £6.99 a month.

TalkTalk Pro comes with top speeds of 24Mbps, unlimited downloads and anytime calls for £14.99 a month. Line rental is charged at £11.49 per month and is payable to TalkTalk instead of BT.

Finally, some positive UK Government/broadband news. Sort of. Chancellor Alistair Darling has confirmed that a ‘Landline Duty’ would be set up next year which would work out at 50p per month, or £6 a year on all phone lines. This would raise an estimated £175 million in funding which would be invested in bird houses and moats a nationwide next-gen broadband infrastructure.

The funding will be used to “encourage private sector investment in digital infrastructure.” This could mean that ISPs such as BT and Virgin Media, who have already heavily invested in improving the availability and performance of their respective networks, could benefit from an injection of public coin.

However this will only come to pass if Labour remain in government after the next election. Both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats have said that they would scrap the proposals if either party came to power.

Last month, TalkTalk chief executive Charles Dunstone said in the Guardian that the tax would be counter productive, as “over 100,000 mostly low income homes will be forced to give up their broadband lines.”

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We’ve just heard that TalkTalk is to replace its offer of free M&S vouchers with an offer of free connection. The £30 M&S voucher deal was originally thought to run up until this Thursday the 3rd of December, in order for the vouchers to be able to arrive in time for Christmas.

TalkTalk connection usually costs £29.99 and so customers hoping on signing up for the vouchers can at least save an equivalent amount by avoiding paying for connection. It is not yet known if the offer of free connection will last until the 3rd of December, or the rest of the year or will continue indefinitely. We’ve contacted TalkTalk for more info but have not yet heard back. We’ll update this post as and when we hear things.

Update: We’ve just seen over on the TalkTalk site that the offer of free connection on the TalkTalk Essentials and Pro packages is runs until the 15th of Decemeber, exactly two weeks time.