TalkTalk Group, which started life as part of Carphone Warehouse before demerging in 2010, has bought the Tesco broadband and fixed-line voice base from Tesco plc. This gives it around 75,000 broadband customers and around 20,000 voice customers, which will be transferred to the TalkTalk network.
The loss-making Blinkbox Movies business was also acquired, although Blinkbox-branded ebook and music services weren’t part of the deal.
Blinkbox offers video-on-demand via PCs, tablets and smart TVs, enabling customers to rent or buy movies and television shows. It’ll now be integrated with TalkTalk TV, which has over 1.2 million customers. Adrian Letts, Blinkbox CEO and co-founder, will join TalkTalk as its Managing Director for TV.
Dido Harding, Chief Executive of TalkTalk, said “Since launch TalkTalk TV has demonstrated its popularity with value-seeking customers to become the UK’s fastest growing TV service. We are excited about the opportunity that Blinkbox’s platform and technology expertise bring, and which will significantly accelerate the development of our TV platform. The purchase of Tesco’s broadband base is another example of TalkTalk leveraging its national network to grow faster. We are excited about the future of quad-play – fixed phone and broadband, TV and mobile – and this acquisition will help to further drive home our value for money advantage.”