ISP moves to officially TalkTalk up Tiscali

You won’t be seeing any more of the Tiscali logo as the brand is officially decommissioned.

When two become one

It’s seemed inevitable since at least back midway through last year that name “Tiscali” would be consigned to the dustbin of history, with Carphone Warehouse moving to acquire the ISP last May. While it’s been happy for Tiscali to sit in its stable of internet service provider brands until now - alongside TalkTalk, AOL and Opal – its customers had previously been told they were to be migrated onto the TalkTalk network via email.

“We want to make it very clear that being part of TalkTalk is much more than just having a different logo on the top of your bill,” says Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk CEO. “For that reason we’ve reviewed all of the pricing tariffs and can say from today that if you’re with TalkTalk you’re getting the same value as your fellow customers. For many of our customers this will mean a reduction in their monthly bills, others will see no change with the remainder getting a small increase. Any customer visiting our website can clearly see our tariffs.”

A “small increase?”

At this point it’s worth noting that the TalkTalk website itself is (at time of writing), somewhat bizarrely hosting an article called “Tiscali Customers could find TalkTalk’s not so cheap.” Originally published by The Guardian, it notes that now-former Tiscali customers could actually see their bills rise by up to a third. Meanwhile, because TalkTalk doesn’t offer a like-for-like broadband only package to replace the £14.99 option previously available on Tiscali – and because the cheapest TalkTalk equivalent is £19.99 – that could equate to a service cost increase of £60 each year.

Unsurprisingly, fears of a such price hike are something that rival ISPs have been trying to capitalise on. Plusnet, for instance, have been offering ex-Tiscali customers three months free broadband if they use the promotional code “tiscalisave” when signing up online. “TalkTalk could make an extra £36 million from ex-Tiscali customers who bite the bullet and pay £60 a year for absolutely nothing” points out John Petter, managing director of the consumer division at BT, which itself owns the Sheffield-based firm.

On the face of it, it’s only the ex-Tiscali users who agree for TalkTalk to handle their phone calls as well as their Internet needs – which isn’t always possible in any case, even if desired – that will keep paying £14.99 per month. It has been reported, however, that those who called up Tiscali to request the MAC (Migration Access Code) number necessary to switch ISP, were offered a cheaper deal (£8 a month) – as long as they agreed to an 18-month contract.

Taking the Tiscali

Carphone Warehouse, which across its brands currently has over four million subscribers, is of course keen to handle the transition the best it can. As a now-former Tiscali customer myself, I received a phone call from a TalkTalk call centre during late December, asking me if I wanted to switch to to its service. However, I was told that the Tiscali and TalkTalk businesses were being kept separate at that time – and that I would have to still request a MAC number from Tiscali before letting TalkTalk know what it was. The impression I got was that the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing.

While it is known that Tiscali customers will be migrated onto the TalkTalk network across the coming year, TalkTalk is apparently keeping stum on its own new pricing structure until next month. In the meantime, Ofcom will be looking at the implications of former Tiscali customers being forced to pay more on TalkTalk. “This issue has been brought to our attention,” a spokesperson for the telecommunications regulator said. “We are monitoring complaints and are in touch with TalkTalk on the issue.”

Tags: AOL, Broadband, Dunstone, ISP, OFCOM, TalkTalk, Tiscali