 | This article needs to be updated.(May 2017) |
 | |
| Company type | Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
Key people | Charles Dunstone, Chairman |
| Products | Broadband Internet access |
| Parent | TalkTalk Group |
AOL Broadband was a UK internet service provider and part of the TalkTalk Group. [1]
The Carphone Warehouse announced that it would purchase the UK business of AOL on 10 October 2006 for £370m, [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] making it the third largest broadband provider, with over 2 million customers, and the largest LLU Operator with more than 150,000 LLU customers. [8] [7] [9] The acquisition process completed on 9 December 2006. [5] A press release stated that AOL UK Audience business will remain a separate organization and brand with a revenue sharing agreement. The AOL UK Access business (broadband) was changed to AOL Broadband. The deal included an agreement to continue customers access to the AOL portal content. [10]
AOL began consulting on job cuts in 2006. The Times reported that the company expected to cut a total of 500 UK jobs by Christmas. [11] In line with legal requirements, AOL UK (now AOL Broadband) notified the DTI that redundancies are planned. The Press Gazette stated "The company has informed the DTI that it is possible that it will make more than 100 redundancies". [12]
On 1 November 2006, it was made public that Karen Thompson, AOL UK CEO and President AOL Europe, had resigned and had been succeeded by Carlo d'Asaro Biondo (previously CEO of AOL France). Thompson was part of the team responsible for launching AOL UK in 1996. [13]
It was made public on 14 December 2006 that Carlo d'Asaro Biondo had resigned after six weeks in his new role. Philip Rowley (the chairman of AOL Europe) has taken over on a temporary basis. The Guardian states: the management turmoil has put the European operation in "freefall" and created a "massive vacuum", according to one AOL insider. The same article estimates that 5,000 AOL jobs are to go worldwide (25% of staff) with a significant number from AOL UK. [14]
In January 2007 AOL UK was rebranded as AOL Broadband.
In an early press statement, The Carphone Warehouse stated they had "no plans to change the service in any way at all," but, since January, all those who used P2P applications heavily had their downstream bandwidth limited to 50 kbit/s during peak times (18:00–24:00, Sunday to Thursday). [15]
During the third quarter of 2007, AOL Broadband caused a stir by offering a free laptop computer (and eventually a free PlayStation 3) to all new customers signing up for a 24-month contract with its AOL Broadband Wireless Plus broadband package.
Services are provided by TalkTalk Group under the AOL Broadband brand. [16]
In April 2013 AOL Broadband was 'rated worst for broadband problems' by Which? Magazine. [17]
By April 2014, AOL Broadband was no longer available for new customers. Potential new customers are directed to the TalkTalk website for broadband packages. [18]
AOL is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc.
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises. The physical wire connection between the local exchange and the customer is known as a "local loop", and is owned by the incumbent local exchange carrier. To increase competition, other providers are granted unbundled access.
Pipex was the United Kingdom's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP). It was formed in 1990 and helped to develop the ISP market in the UK. In 1992 it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line and built a connection to the UK government's JANET network. One of its first customers was Demon Internet which popularised dial up modem based internet access in the UK. It was also one of the key players in the development of the London Internet Exchange through a meeting with BT in 1994.
Carphone Warehouse is mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc, which was formed by the merger of its former parent Carphone Warehouse Group with Dixons Retail. Prior to this merger, Carphone Warehouse Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Following the closure of all stand-alone UK stores in April 2020, all remaining Carphone Warehouse UK outlets were within branches of Currys PC World. In April 2021, the Carphone Warehouse business in Ireland was closed with immediate effect. Currys continued to use the Carphone Warehouse brand in the United Kingdom, online and, until 2021, inside Currys stores.
Be Unlimited was an Internet service provider in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2014. Initially founded as an independent company by Boris Ivanovic and Dana Tobak in 2005, it was bought by Spanish group Telefónica Europe in 2006 before being sold on to BSkyB in March 2013 in an agreement which saw BSkyB buy the fixed telephone line and broadband business of Telefónica Europe which at the time traded under the O2 and BE brands. The deal saw BSkyB agree to pay £180 million initially, followed by a further £20 million after all customers had been transferred to Sky's existing business. The sale was subject to regulatory approval in April 2013, and was subsequently approved by the Office of Fair Trading on 16 May 2013.
Virgin Media is a telecommunications company from England, founded in 2007, which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica.
UK Online was a consumer Internet service provider that operated within the UK, and began as a dial-up provider in 1994. Network provider Easynet acquired the company in 1996, and were in turn acquired by BSkyB in 2005. The service was closed down in January 2011.
LineOne was an Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. LineOne was a joint venture of News International, United News & Media and British Telecom. It then became the UK branch of Tiscali, which is now TalkTalk.
Sky Broadband is the consumer internet service offered by Sky UK in the United Kingdom.
Sir Charles William Dunstone is the British co-founder and former chairman of mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, former chairman of multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company Dixons Carphone, and executive chairman of the TalkTalk Group.
Neuf Cegetel was a French wireline telecommunications service provider and a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). It offered various telecommunications services to consumers, enterprises and wholesale customers, ranking second in the country in annual revenues. It was legally established in 2005 following the completion of the merger between Neuf Telecom and Cegetel. As of June 2008, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of SFR, and the brand disappeared commercially.
TalkTalk TV is a UK-based consumer television and video on demand service, operated by the TalkTalk Group. It originally launched in 2000. In September 2012, the current TalkTalk TV was launched in partnership with YouView. Its television and video on demand service is delivered over a BT phone line, using ADSL or VDSL. It provides IPTV, video on demand, telephony and broadband internet access.
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TalkTalk Telecom Group plc is a company that provides pay television and Internet access services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2003 as a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse and was demerged as a standalone company in March 2010. Its headquarters are in Salford.
TalkTalk Business is a business broadband, telephone, mobile phone and IT support provider owned by TalkTalk Group. The division supports approximately 180,000 UK businesses, and 350 resellers, that include voice and data specialists, system integrators and carriers.
Easynet Connect was a UK-based Internet service provider. The Easynet Connect brand was founded on 7 January 2008 to focus on small-to-medium size companies with 11-249 employees. Easynet Connect’s core focus was as a business ISP, providing Internet access connectivity, colocation services and hybrid cloud computing services to small businesses and resellers in the UK. It was headquartered in London, with customer service and hosting centres in London and Somerset.
Andrews & Arnold Ltd is an Internet service provider based in Bracknell, England. The company was founded in 1997 and launched in 1998, serving businesses and "technical" home users.
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