The end of TT

A few regulars on the TT Community forum noticed all the usual support staff (OCE's) had disappeared a couple of weeks ago and had been replaced with script monkeys (could be AI see below) it turns out it was no secret they were going.
The quotes below were posted in a thread on the TT support forum i have a feeling they will be taken down as soon as a mod sees them so i thought i would open the discussion here,

TalkTalk is reportedly cutting jobs and increasing its use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce costs and improve efficiency. This includes streamlining processes, reducing errors, and allowing employees to focus on higher-value tasks. The company is also exploring the use of open-source solutions and best-of-breed suppliers

I guess losing 400,000 customers in a short period of time and having to secure a crucial refinancing package worth c. £400m means belts needed to be tightened i feel sorry for the staff they let go they were good at getting problems sorted fast (unlike this lot)

I only found out tonight "Openreach reportedly threatened to block the troubled internet provider from adding new customers due to concerns over delayed payments" do members think this will be the end for TalkTalk?

Newspaper has claimed that telecoms giant BT (EE, Plusnet etc.) are allegedly in the “early stages of exploring a takeover” of debt-laden broadband ISP TalkTalk. The news follows only days after Openreach reportedly threatened to block the troubled internet provider from adding new customers due to concerns over delayed payments.

Firstly, we’re going to assume that most of our readers are now fairly familiar with the roller coaster ride of events around TalkTalk, which last year secured a crucial refinancing package worth c. £400m saving it from the immediate risk of a default on its debts. Nevertheless, the ISP recently reported losing around 400,000 customers in the year (total of 3.2m) and has experienced a few disputes

Edited by Jack_Hackett (Wed 02-Jul-25 20:56:44)

In reply to a post by Jack_Hackett:

do members think this will be the end for TalkTalk?

TalkTalk has felt like a company waiting to be taken over for a long time. I had suspected Vodafone would be the one, I'm sure they have the funds and could easily close the gap with their competitors with such an acquisition.

My take is TT had a lot of growth via acquisitions, but also a lot of losses due to not really innovating. Whatever initial drive was in that company is long gone, and its just on a death by a thousand cuts, any new financing it gets is basically a band aid so they can keep limping along.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by Jack_Hackett:

do members think this will be the end for TalkTalk?

TalkTalk has felt like a company waiting to be taken over for a long time. I had suspected Vodafone would be the one, I'm sure they have the funds and could easily close the gap with their competitors with such an acquisition.

If they are taken over what happens to existing customers are they allowed to move elsewhere with no financial penalty or are they stuck until the end of their contract?

In reply to a post by Jack_Hackett:

If they are taken over what happens to existing customers are they allowed to move elsewhere with no financial penalty or are they stuck until the end of their contract?

As long as the existing terms of the contract are honoured, there is no obligation for the acquiring ISP to release people from their contracts. That said, in the past, they often do.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by Jack_Hackett:

If they are taken over what happens to existing customers are they allowed to move elsewhere with no financial penalty or are they stuck until the end of their contract?

As long as the existing terms of the contract are honoured, there is no obligation for the acquiring ISP to release people from their contracts. That said, in the past, they often do.

Thanks.

In reality though I highly doubt any merger would go through quickly at least from a customer's standpoint. Might take 2+ years to migrate customers over to a new ISP - or they might just run it indefinitely (not accepting new customers on the TT brand and pointing them to eg Vodafone).

I'm not convinced that it makes a huge amount of sense for anyone to buy TT as a going concern unfortunately tho.

Vodafone debt is about 6%, I believe TT was paying around 10% before it hit meltdown mode.

If they were struggling to make it work at 10% then saving 4% on debt costs via Vodafone is likely still not a good return on capital.

The main problem is they are absolutely hemorrhaging customers (and probably more so now all this media coverage of their financial woes). If they just had a debt problem it would make sense as there is a solid business that can be optimized even if the debt saving isn't great.

However if they continue losing 500k customers a year then by the time you clear regulatory hurdles and do any sort of turnaround plan (probably at least 1-2 years) you've lost another 1/3rd of your 'investment' just from churn.