Debt-troubled UK broadband provider TalkTalk has reportedly “pulled out” of industry-funded online child safety charity Internet Matters, which was established alongside BT, Virgin Media and Sky Broadband during 2014. The move is said to form part of the ISP’s efforts to cut £120m in costs and follows recent job cuts (here).
The latest move ultimately flows from last year’s decision to accept a refinancing package worth roughly £400m (here and here), which saved TalkTalk from the immediate risk of a default on its debts. The deal essentially extended the group’s debt maturities to September 2027 and brought them more time to fix the foundations or find a buyer for their various companies, which won’t be an easy task (here).
At the same time, TalkTalk’s most recent financial results (here) revealed that their on-net customer base (fibre FTTP/C and broadband) had fallen again to 3.6 million (down from 3.94m in 2023), although their Ethernet (leased lines etc.) base grew to 75,000 (up from 69,400). Suffice to say that recent developments mean the provider is having to find ever deeper ways of cutting costs in order to stay afloat.
According to a report on the Telegraph (paywall), the founding members of ‘Internet Matters’ are understood to pay an annual membership fee of roughly £300,000. This may be just a drop in the ocean of TalkTalk’s debt, but it’s a drop they clearly need.
A TalkTalk spokesman said:
“TalkTalk is proud to be one of the founders of Internet Matters, having financially supported the organisation for the past decade. We remain committed to online safety and are exploring different ways of continuing to support Internet Matters and its work moving forward.”
Interestingly, the newspaper indicates that the charity’s other backers may not currently be minded to increase their contributions in order to cover the loss of TalkTalk’s support.