Talk Talk

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With more than 5.2 million broadband and narrowband cellular customers, the UK's Talk Talk Telecom Group PLC (LSE: TALK), is one of the largest wireless providers in the country. Also known as the Talk Talk Group, this wireless provider has more than 4.2 broadband customers and 1.1 million narrowband cellphone customers.

Talk Talk signal analyses show that more than 81% of the UK is within its coverage area.

Talk Talk also provides AOL services to the UK and also operates under the Opal brand name. Talk Talk and AOL are primarily residential services while the Opal brand is primarily business.

Looking at the future, Talk Talk has opted to operate its own next generation network all-IP (Internet Protocol) network to provide unbundled servicing to its customers. An IP network is the "phone exchange" of the Internet. An IP address, which now is running under 6V in some markets, uses the full octet of an IP device's MAC address to establish an Internet connection and address. The device then waits for information to its specific ID or address and when it sees the information it pulls it down to the device. This addressing scheme has the potential of opening millions of slots on the Internet for use as it really isn't a traditional "IP" address in the strict sense because it is based on the Machine Address Code found on Internet capable devices or MAC address. Indeed, some system managers have been managing their overtaxed facilities with MAC address coding for almost a decade.

Operating the largest unbundled local loop network in the United Kingdom – in this instance 72% – Talk Talk provides all of the services within its own facilities, exclusive of those services another provider may offer. The Talk Talk Group operates closely with British Telecom's Openexchange where BT provides the copper, space and power, while Talk Talk provides specialized equipment so that its own network protocols are recognized.

The keys to unbundling are the manner in which it operates. If a facility operates a totally unbundled local loop (ULL) configuration, then BT is a secondary player, providing the infrastructure, however, if it is only partially unbundled, Talk Talk provides the networking piece while BT provides the voice. Partially unbundled systems are called SMPF.

Because Talk Talk is a leading provider of NGNs, it has a commanding position as this market begins to burgeon, however, because there are still many traditional voice customers, Talk Talk continues to offer traditional voice services, but it is pushing the NGN piece of its operation. NGN offers more flexibility because you can run both voice and data over the same network. Further, because it deals with separate layers of the networking infrastructure differently (each network has seven distinct layers, all of which must be there to have a functioning network, but each of which can be used separately to supply different products) and this allows new developments and technologies to be applied without upsetting existing technologies. It’s also much more cost effective to operate an NGN network because the NGN employs "soft" switching or IP switching that can be changed almost instantly where a traditional network requires more effort.

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