TalkTalk currently offers its basic services to about 80 per cent of the country, which tops its closest rival O2’s 70 per cent availability in UK households. Now TalkTalk says that it will be rolling out its coverage to make sure that 90 per cent of the nation can choose its broadband.

In a press release, TalkTalk said that the 1700 unbundled exchanges that it operates in the UK would be growing to 2000 over the next year. It also said that the speeds of its broadband service would be rising in order to meet the public appetite for data, which experts say is increasing by 50 per cent a year.

TalkTalk is currently trialling its own fibre optic service using the same Infinity network that is bringing about BT broadband deals that have a maximum download speed of 40Mbps. This is the fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology that has been implemented in a number of areas to date and it is, as yet, available in only a limited number of locations.

By next spring BT is hoping to bring high speed ADSL2+ broadband to about 20 million UK customers, which is a more ambitious plan than many of its main provider rivals, although its monopoly over the UK’s broadband infrastructure allows it to develop technologies and services at its own pace.

TalkTalk is proving to be a serious contender in the UK broadband provider market, as its recent acquisitions of smaller firms such as AOL and Tiscali have significantly increased its user base and allowed it to gain market share from established rivals.

With four services included in a single monthly bill, TalkTalk would be competing directly with Virgin Media, which also offers quadruple deals. Virgin Media does, however, have the availability of cheap cable broadband on its side, but TalkTalk would be able to reach a wider audience with its proposed services.

It looks as though TalkTalk will being instigating its new plans for extensive broadband bundles once it has completely decoupled from The Carphone Warehouse, which will cease to own the provider as of the 29th of March this year.

With over four million broadband and home phone customers in the UK, TalkTalk is one of the most significant players in the market and it will probably be able to convert many of its existing customers over to its 4 way bundles when they arrive later in the year. At this time there is no official news as to what types of mobile phone packages might be made available, although they are certain to be competitive.

TalkTalk is busy on Project Canvas, which is its own attempt to unify and standardise the provision of digital television and catchup services via broadband connections. This could see it offering popular services such as the BBC iPlayer in the future.

The one barrier that TalkTalk faces when it comes to digital TV via broadband will be getting hold of commercial content. Subscription TV from Virgin Media and Sky is already established in this area and these firms could be unwilling to offer TalkTalk a slice of the action although the lure of a cheap cable broadband subscriber base may help.

Simple Broadband’s Communication Manager Simon Gerrard added “When TalkTalk brings its broadband bundles to the market, it could quickly win itself many new customers who are looking for a unified deal.”

TalkTalk has been performing very well over the last year and it seems that its success has emboldened its management team and encouraged a push towards capturing even more of the market. The new package will slightly overshadow O2’s recent announcement that it will begin to offer home phone deals for its customers and could prove to be more attractive than some BT broadband options.

TalkTalk’s free broadband offer requires that you pay line rental, but not only will this allow for unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines, but 8Mbps broadband will not cost you a penny extra for an entire year. You will need to commit for a minimum of 24 months and during the second half you will have to pay £6.99 a month for the broadband connection.

If you do the maths, it turns out that TalkTalk’s bundle will set you back under £200 a year, which is competitive for both home phone and broadband bundled in the same simple deal. But the main question many will ask is ‘Should I commit for 2 years?’

The broadband market it in a state of change and by 2012 a whole host of new technologies will have arrived, including faster fibre to the cabinet and LTE mobile broadband connections. This could leave you feeling left behind with an 8Mbps connection.

That said, there will usually be opportunities for people to upgrade their broadband package with their existing provider at any point during their minimum contracted period. This is particularly easy with TalkTalk or BT Broadband options, although do bear in mind that additional commitments may be required in tandem with the upgrade.

The merger of the two firms has resulted in the creation of the UK’s largest single home broadband provider, which will now serve over 4.1 million customers around the country. TalkTalk’s parent firm The Carphone Warehouse bought Tiscali for a modest £235 million in May 2009 and it joined a group of other subsidiaries that included fellow broadband provider AOL.

The Carphone Warehouse’s CEO Charles Dunstone said in a statement that he hoped the change-over would be more significant for former Tiscali customers than an alteration to the logo. As such, he has assured the new members of the TalkTalk home broadband family that their tariffs are of equal value to those of existing Tiscali plans.

Mr Dunstone also indicated that the change meant that many former Tiscali customers would now be paying less monthly for their broadband service. A minority may pay more, but cheap cable broadband could be a solution.

Some people will welcome the news, as the TalkTalk broadband brand has undergone quite a metamorphosis over the past few years. At first it was not particularly well regarded, but with a turnaround in customer service quality and a competitive pricing strategy it has now become a trusted brand.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard added that “if ex-Tiscali customers are not keen on staying with TalkTalk after the switchover is complete, they can always migrate their service to an alternative provider with ease. Cheap cable broadband offers an excellent alternative to ADSL for those living in cabled areas and rival ADSL providers will be looking to snap up any customers that may not be enamoured with TalkTalk.”