TalkTalk currently offers pay-as-you-go mobile plans and deals. In the statement, the operator announced: “Our mobile base continues to grow with over 70,000 customers now taking mobile in addition to their phone and broadband service. We plan to launch a handset proposition later this year in addition to our existing SIM-only and data products.”

TalkTalk also stated that they were looking to increase its current fixed-line network by upping its capacity by more than a hundred times over. The provider added: “Over the next five years, we plan to increase our network capacity by over 100 times. Primarily this will take the form of cost efficient backhaul scaling against a sustainable exchange footprint.”

“In addition we will continue to optimise our network for video content, security and access to cloud services.”

This forecast was made by telecoms analyst firm Point Topic, who said that the UK will be host to over 25.9 million broadband lines by the end of that year, with the connections established from fibre optic cables.

Ofcom had just recently made the confirmation that over 63% of the United Kingdom’s households already have access to superfast broadband services. These are defined to be ”having a potential headline access speed of at least 20Mb, with no upper limit.”

The results from Point Topic’s study injects a wave of enthusiasm in the state of UK’s broadband. The firm released a statement: “As BT and Virgin Media build scale in premises passed and end users signed to their superfast broadband services some of the UK’s alternative network operators are beginning to find their niche. Clearly not all altnets will be successful and questions remain concerning the long-term viability of alternative network operators as significant players in the country’s superfast broadband future.”

“Nevertheless there are circumstances in which their varied and localised approaches look set to bring superfast broadband to individual communities that have often been struggling with access to even the most basic of broadband services.”

In related news, Ofcom has just called on these service providers to come clean in their sales calls with customers. Ofcom recently did a mystery shopping phone exercise and reported pretty dismal results.

The regulator reported that ISPs failed to provide potential customers with a quote on their speeds in 41% of all sales calls. This is clearly a breach of code that was set up last year in order to protect consumers. TalkTalk was found to be the worst offender, as they were found to offer a quote, unprompted, in only 47% of their calls. BT Broadband came in second, by offering a quote in just 48% of calls. These are nearly ten percentage points lower than the average across all providers of 59%.

Through a spokesperson, BT has said: “Ofcom has suggested we should make a minor change to mention the speed quote earlier in the sales conversation, which we are happy to do and will implement straight away. Overall, Ofcom found that the level of compliance with the code has improved since our previous mystery shopping exercise in 2009.”

TalkTalk also added: “ ”No one enters a contract with us without receiving a speed estimate tailored to them. Anyone can log onto our website and get an accurate speed estimate, based on the capabilities of their phone connection.”

The providers that fared well in the mystery shopping exercise are Karoo and Sky, which provided quotes in 76% and 72% of their sales calls, respectively.

Responding to the study, Marzena Lipman, policy manager at campaign group Consumer Focus, commented: “The most common problem for broadband consumers is ending up with a slower broadband speed than they expected. So, while it’s good news there have been improvements, it is disappointing that this research shows many providers still aren’t being as up-front with their customers as they should be.”

TalkTalk’s national broadband programme is also underway, with the recent installation of over  £50,000 worth of broadband equipment in Amble as part of its Next Generation Network (NGN). The operator’s NGN also covers other areas in the county, such as Warkworth and High Hauxley.

Tristia Clarke, who is the commercial director at TalkTalk, stated: “TalkTalk believes residents need a break in these tough times. If all homes within the Amble, Berwick and Lynemouth exchanges signed up to TalkTalk Essentials these areas could be £1,916,992 better off. Local residents can make their home better off with six months’ free phone and broadband from TalkTalk, saving up to £154 a year versus BT’s 18-month contract.”

TalkTalk has already shelled out over £600 million nationally for the rollout, which will cover 93 percent of the country when deployment has been completed. By setting up their own equipment at the exchanges, TalkTalk will be able to provide its users with better and more innovative services.

However, the London School of Economics recently released a report where it asserts that a £1.1 billion funding gap might mean that the government’s goals for broadband will probably not be met. Furthermore, the report explains that the government should do more to try to safeguard the UK economy despite the underinvestment.

“The government target of 100% coverage by basic broadband by 2015 is likely to be met, but it is less clear when the government targets of 90% coverage by superfast broadband, and 100% coverage by fast broadband, are likely to be met.”

Paolo Dini, one of the report’s authors, added that the UK government should set aside more funds for broadband, considering the economic benefits that it could bring about. ”In this year’s budget the government allocated £200bn for transport infrastructure and £50m to broadband. That doesn’t seem quite right.”

The assertions from the report that the goals of the government project wouldn’t be met were expressly dismissed by a spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. “We are confident of completing the roll-out by 2015. All local authorities except two met the government’s timeline by submitting their initial broadband plans on time.”

The spokesman continued: “We have always been clear this investment will not meet the full cost but will help make it economically viable for telecoms companies to roll out broadband to areas that would otherwise be left behind.”

Following that, BT Broadband has revealed that it will launching a new initiative to build Cornwall’s reputation for driving innovation and research, called the Superfast Cornwall Labs. This will be a collaboration between BT and a variety of organisations, including University College Falmouth, the Cornwall Development Company, and various Cornish businesses.

As part of the project, three PhD student placements will be created at the Combined Universities in Cornwall in the following areas of research: healthcare, creative industries, and remote public e-services.

Superfast Cornwall programme development director for Cornwall Development Company, Nigel Ashcroft, stated: “Superfast Cornwall’s roll-out of faster broadband is already setting the standard for rural communities across Europe, but our aims and objectives go much further. We also want to be a leader in innovation and for our businesses, households and communities to be able to make the most of this exciting technology.

“The Superfast Cornwall Labs banner will bring together a wide variety of innovative thinking in the county, ranging from superfast broadband workshops for householders, businesses and public sector organisations to projects, such as University of the Village and Vconect.”

The Superfast Cornwall partnership is aiming to provide fibre broadband to 80% of the areas in Cornwall and in the Isles of Sicily by the year 2014. Wireless and satellite alternative technologies will be used to supplement the fibre services.

Ranulf Scarbrough, Superfast Cornwall programme director for BT, said: “We have already seen exciting, pioneering work in Cornwall, such as deploying many new optical fibre technologies for the first time in the UK and, in St Newlyn East, the first live customer trial of next generation 4G mobile broadband technology. And we plan to do a lot more.”

Everything Everywhere is determined to bring 4G technology to the UK by this year. While Ofcom is still holding off the 4G LTE spectrum auction, Everything Everywhere has come up with an alternative suggestion to get 4G rolling: by allowing current 2G-licence holders to use their spectrum for LTE mobile broadband.

Unfortunately, Ofcom hasn’t signed off the proposal with their seal of proposal yet. It’s going to be a tough decision as well , since a number of competing operators have vehemently voiced their opposition during the consultation period that Ofcom held for the proposal.

While a lot of people are already eager for 4G, a group called Voice of the Listener & Viewer that is campaigning for high-quality broadcasting has issued a warning that 4G networks might knock out television in one of every ten homes in the UK. On the whole, this could mean that 2 million homes will experience inconveniences or disturbances with their Freeview signals.

During the Ofcom consultation, the pressure group asked mobile networks for a guarantee that everyone in the country can still receive Freeview without having to spend on any filters, once the 4G technology has been deployed.

“Consumers have bought into Freeview with enthusiasm and in good faith and through the process of switchover have made significant investment in Freeview equipment … however, continuity of service is far from guaranteed. Many homes will be left with insufficient support to address interference problems and some will lose access to Freeview altogether.”

Ofcom is planning to set up a new company called MitCo, which will be sending out filters with instructions for installation to affected parties. If the filters don’t work, then MitCo will instal equipment for FreeSat or similar satellite TV services.

Everything Everywhere piped up by saying that it could mitigate the issue at the network level, provided the government gives up its share of the leftover funding of £180 million from the 800MHz auction proceeds for the mitigation efforts.

BT has had an impressive run, announcing that they will finish deployment by the year 2014. In relation to this, the ISP has revealed that it has just surpassed the 10 million milestone. This means that BT has rolled out its fibre broadband service to over 10 million households and establishments, all over the country.

BT chief executive Ian Livingston stated: “Our engineers have worked tirelessly this past year and BT has made a real commitment to the UK’s infrastructure. Rolling out fibre is no easy task and so to have passed ten million premises in such a short time is fantastic. Our roll-out is one of the fastest in the world and our engineers deserve lots of credit.

“The UK is making great progress with fibre broadband. There are more than half a million customers already using the service and more than 60 ISPs trialling or offering services. This is a significant achievement given we only began selling services a couple of years ago. Momentum is building in the market and that can only be good for Broadband Britain. We already compare very well to other major European economies and given our plans, the UK can sprint ahead in the future.”

This development is part of BT’s £2.5 billion investment that will bring superfast broadband to two-thirds of the entire UK upon completion of the deployment.

Until October 2009, O2 had the advantage of being the only network in the UK that was selling the Apple iPhone. These came bundled with a 2-year plan that will most likely be ending in this period, so O2 has gone on to launch several promos to convince these customers not to switch.

What they did was subsidise the cost of new phones, including the new iPhone 4S, to encourage their current customers to stay with them. This is a good long-term strategy but bad for the short-term, since these handset upgrades have contributed to a quarter of the rise in commercial costs.

O2 said: “The company’s efforts in retaining the customer base have shown positive signs in contract churn which will translate into higher retained value going forward.”

Around a half of the network’s users are on-contract, while the other half are on pre-paid plans. Approximately 41% of O2′s subscribers own smartphones, while 80% of these are comprised of new signings who have chosen these feature-filled smartphones over more basic mobile phones.

Unfortunately, it seems that these new guidelines aren’t enough. This was what Ofcom commented a day after they were announced, saying: “We are disappointed that it appears not to be possible to establish a single, clear and consistent ‘Typical Speed Range’. Our view is that this is the best way to ensure that consumers are able to compare the wide range of packages that are available.”

It seems that regulating agencies must look into more than just the ad campaigns of these broadband service providers. They should also look into the actual services rendered, because a study that was recently conducted by the Guardian revealed that customers actually experience broadband speeds that are 40% slower than advertised.

In a span of three days, over 3,000 users took part in Guardian’s online broadband speed test. The study reported that UK broadband subscribers are paying  for an average of 12 megabits per second, but are only actually able to access speeds of 7Mbps, which results in a 42% gap.

Hugh Colvin, an arts organiser, responded to the study, saying: “If you were buying a dozen apples and you got three, you wouldn’t put up with it. It’s outrageous that I pay the same as somebody who is in the middle of London getting 10 times the speed.”

TalkTalk and Sky customers reported a 60% gap between advertised and actual experienced speeds, while Virgin users reported a shortfall of 41%. BT’s users got the best speeds with their respective deals, only reporting a gap of 27%.