TalkTalk Mobile has dumped Vodafone’s 2G and 3G networks in exchange for O2’s 2G, 3G and 4G meaning better download speeds according to Ofcom’s most recent report.
TalkTalk said its user base has increased by almost ten per cent over the last year and the new arrangement means the company will be able to provides its 4 million UK customers with a ‘a high quality mobile proposition’.
TalkTalk Mobile previously announced its quad-play strategy – meaning you can get a free mobile SIM card when you sign up to the company’s TV Plus product, giving you access to landline, broadband and TV services.
Dido Harding, CEO of TalkTalk said: “This is a significant development for TalkTalk, building on our success in mobile to date. We are ideally placed to benefit from the market shift to quad-play, with a sizeable and growing number of customers already choosing to take mobile from us. We see real opportunities in both the near term and further out, to work with Telefónica UK to further accelerate our quad-play growth.”
TalkTalk has been using Vodafone’s network to provide customers with reception since the mobile service was launched four years ago. However, one reason TalkTalk could be looking to move across to O2 is it sees Vodafone as direct competition as the UK network looks to launch its own IPTV and broadband services, meeting TalkTalk head-on.
In Ofcom’s latest speed tests, it was revealed Vodafone had the second slowest mobile broadband upload and download speeds in comparison to EE with the fastest, O2 with the second fastest and Three with the slowest network. However, Three pipped all other networks to the post when it came to general browsing speeds.
How this will affect TalkTalk’s plans for in-home 4G services hasn’t been revealed. TalkTalk still isn’t detailing its plans for how the slice of 4G spectrum it owns will benefit its customers.
TalkTalk Mobile is now looking to rapidly grow its mobile user base, cutting the price of its offering to undercut the pureplay networks and introducing a business tariff for those who want to use their device outside of posting to Twitter and Facebook.
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