TalkTalk signs mobile deal with Vodafone

Internet and phone provider TalkTalk signed a deal with Vodafone to launch a mobile service under its own brand, adding mobile voice and data tariffs to its bundle of services to match competitors.
TalkTalk, which was spun out of mobile phone retail group Carphone Warehouse in April, said it would offer contract mobile voice and data tariffs to its existing customers from the autumn.
Chairman Charles Dunstone said the group would make a "gentle" entry into mobile, but would offer competitive prices in line with its value-offer fixed services.
"It will be a way to add a very good value mobile package to the account you have with us for your fixed-line phone and broadband," he said in an interview on Friday.
The tariffs would be revealed in the autumn, he said.
TalkTalk, which vies with cable operator Virgin Media in the broadband market behind leader BT Group, added 34,000 net broadband customers in the second quarter, just ahead of a company-supplied forecast, taking its total to 4.23 mln customers.
Average revenue per broadband user (ARPU) was 23.90 pounds, slightly up on the second half of the previous year, and broadly in line with the forecast.
BT added 96,000 net home broadband customers in its first quarter, while Virgin added 28,100, taking its total to 4.2 mln, and BSkyB connected 119,000 net broadband subscribers, taking its total to 2.62 mln.
TalkTalk, which bought Tiscali a year ago, said its share of net broadband adds was about 10% this quarter, keeping it on track to add 140,000 to 180,000 customers in the year.
Revenue for the quarter was up 31% to 444 mln pounds, also broadly in line with expectations.
The company said it remained confident it would deliver 6-8% revenue growth, and 20% growth in normalised earnings per share and dividends per share for the year to 31 March 2011, in line with its guidance.
Shares in TalkTalk have drifted 2% lower since they started trading on March 24, exactly in line with its European telecoms peers. They were down 2% at 0718 GMT, underperforming a 0.2% higher European telecoms index.