AOL Broadband

AOL Broadband was a UK internet service provider and part of the TalkTalk Group.[1]

TalkTalk Telecom Limited (trading as AOL Broadband)
TypeLimited
IndustryTelecommunications
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Key people
Charles Dunstone, Chairman
ProductsBroadband Internet access
ParentTalkTalk Group

History

The Carphone Warehouse announced that it would purchase the UK business of AOL on 10 October 2006 for £370m,[2][3] making it the third largest broadband provider, with over 2 million customers, and the largest LLU Operator with more than 150,000 LLU customers.[4][5] The acquisition process completed on 9 December 2006. 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.[6]

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.[7] 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".[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

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).[11]

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. While sceptics looked for a catch, industry experts conceded[12] that the offer was reasonable, despite the necessity to sign up to an AOL Talk home phone package in order to be eligible for the free laptop. While an option to not take a bundled home phone package was available, the price increased by £10; further offers include a free Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii in addition to other promotional items.

Services are provided by TalkTalk Group under the AOL Broadband brand.[13]

In April 2013 AOL Broadband was 'rated worst for broadband problems' by Which? Magazine.[14]

By April 2014, AOL Broadband was no longer available for new customers. Potential new customers are directed to the TalkTalk website for broadband packages.[15]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-01-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Carphone Warehouse to acquire Time Warner's AOL Internet access business in the UK for £370 million". AOL UK Press Release. 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2006-10-27.
  3. "Carphone Warehouse buying AOL UK". BBC News. 2006-10-11. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
  4. "State of the nation – Local Loop Unbundling". thinkbroadband.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  5. The exact figure for LLU customers is not in the public domain, hence 150,000 is the estimated minimum. "Carphone Warehouse with 421,000 live broadband users". thinkbroadband.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
  6. Learn about AOL Broadband - The Broadband Experts Archived February 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine AOL Broadband
  7. Judge, Elizabeth (2006-10-12). "AOL staff cuts follow its sale to Carphone Warehouse". The Times. London. Retrieved 2006-11-03.
  8. "Journalists fear cuts at AOL". The Press Gazette. 2006-11-01. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
  9. "AOL Europe gets new head". The Register. 2006-11-01. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
  10. Sweney, Mark (2006-12-14). "AOL Europe loses another chief". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  11. "How will I know if I exceed what is deemed acceptable usage?". AOL UK. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  12. "Free laptop deals: a short history". Choose.
  13. "AOL Broadband Agreement". TalkTalk Group. 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-04-19. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  14. "AOL rated worst for broadband problems". Which?. 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  15. "AOL Broadband". 2014-05-16. Archived from the original on 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2016-09-03.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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