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Carphone back as potential Tiscali buyer
Friday 24 April 2009 15:55:31 by John Hunt

Tiscali shares rose by 19.7% today after it emerged that talks have recommenced between Tiscali and Carphone Warehouse over the sale of Tiscali's UK arm. It's thought that the banks to which it owes around £450-500m may be pushing for a sale to proceed quickly, however this could force the price even lower as potential buyers hold off in an attempt to get a bargain.

Carphone Warehouse originally offered £550m for Tiscali last year but was excluded from the first round of bidding as the company were hoping to raise more funds. BSkyB walked away from the bargaining table last month when the price was estimated at around £300m. The question now is how low will the price go, and will such a low price invite fresh bids from other parties that could induce a new bidding war?

[ Topic: Internet Service Providers | 42 comments | link to this item ]

Comments

Posted by andys999 over 4 years ago
NO NO NO not carphone warehouse they are total crap!!
Posted by g-bhxu over 4 years ago
That's a bit rich coming from a Tiscali user!
Posted by tazz_uk over 4 years ago
both are crap :P
Posted by AndrueC over 4 years ago
My parent's have a TalkTalk connection via IPStream. It seems to be capped at 3Mb (which is weird) but it's 3Mb 24/7 and seems perfectly satisfactory.
Posted by chrysalis over 4 years ago
short termist shareholders reacting on every day news.
Posted by CARPETBURN over 4 years ago
LOL@andys999 Yep Carphone warehouse are indeed crap, Mix with the constipated Tiscali though and thats one huge gut ache.
A match made in heaven if you ask me, two budget bargain basement horrid ISPs.
Pretty funny really both must be desperate and stupid, Carphone Warehouse stupid enough to bid again and Tiscali desperate enough to consider it. I think of them both as flys and cow muck (make up your own minds which is which).
Posted by comnut over 4 years ago
yes peeps that use TT 'normally' have no probs... maybe 'cos thay dont excessively game or d/l huge stuff???
If they can improve/replace the substandard exchanges, it surely cant get worse...

and no, CW NOT stupid, it knows most of its customers ARE!!! :D
Posted by zyborg47 over 4 years ago
Just been having a look in the Forums and looed into the Tiscali forumas and there was a post by Talkboy or someone like that about Talk Talk having a offer for Tiscali customers
http://www.talktalk.co.uk/tiscali

Talk about jumping from frying pan into the fire.
Posted by comnut over 4 years ago
check my last post....
most dont even understand your last sentence...

the rest have been teetering on the edge of the pan for so long, they could not care less....
Posted by GloryHornet over 4 years ago
Oh well at least now my neighbour will be getting the same awful service as me when they change to Talk Talk servers.
Posted by Redclift over 4 years ago
Have been using Tiscali for many years, originally on dial-up latterly on broadband. Both for free calls and broadband. Never had any problem with either. Where am I going wrong? Should I have had problems?
Posted by hype313 over 4 years ago
redclift - do you work in tiscali customer service or customer retentions?
Posted by dragon1945 over 4 years ago
I was with Pipex Homecall until Tiscali took over. Then my 1.5MB turned into 0.79 MB. I am quite happy to continue with Talktalk at under £21 a month for 1.6 MB BB, phone line, and inclusive calls. BT was costing me over £60 a month for line rental and calls to OZ and USA without BB.
BT and other ISP's can only offer 512 kbps on the same line from the same exchange. What would you do?
Posted by glynnchris over 4 years ago
Been with TT for 2 years getting 3.9mb sometimes 5.1mb what is the problem
Posted by kathwil1 over 4 years ago
I have been using Tiscali for many years as redclift, I have not had any problems, I think tiscali are a very good isp, and no I do not work foe tiscali.
Posted by Redclift over 4 years ago
to hype313
Nope, not a Tiscali emplyee, just a user. Not a heavy user, no Films or MP3s, but virus updates (around 40 meg) and linux updates for netbook (around 140 meg) have downloaded no problem.
Only time I used cust. serv. was to get params for wireless router (back before they all started giving them away) and got rapid and accurate service.
Posted by Finney144 over 4 years ago
I'm happy with Tiscali, is this a record? 6.7 megs, free phone 24/7 including USA all for under 20 quid. What's not to like?
Posted by leshewitt over 4 years ago
No Finney144. Human nature is that people who have problems (quite rightly) are disgruntled and shout, especially when the supplier doesn't fix them properly and/or promptly. Don't get me wrong, I would shout too if it was me. You don't tend to hear as much from the satisfied majority.

My experience in a bit over 18 months as a TalkTalk LLU customer has been entirely positive. 5.5mb down, 1mb up, completely reliable, no appreciable slowdown in peak times. I do quite a lot of downloading, my biggest is 30gb in a month, but I'm not a gamer.

So, for me TalkTalk are not crap!
Posted by hype313 over 4 years ago
Redclift - I was not being sarcastic, just was surprised to hear such good things about them!I used to be with them but my experience was somewhat different, but hey we all live in different areas and one thing i think we can all agree on is that iSP's in general are not the most consistant, almost a scenario like mobile companies.. anyway, still nice to hear positive feedback.
Posted by steve08 over 4 years ago
I'm another tiscali supporter, constant 7-8meg and never dropped. I just hope TT don't win the bidding war as I have never met anyone who gets a reliable service from them and the last thing I want to do is mess around migrating.
As a student teacher i need the constant service and reliability that Tis offers, hopefully the banks will continue the support and another company will step in.
Posted by TGVrecord over 4 years ago
I was with Nildram which was considered a very good ISP. Unfortunately they became part of the Tiscali group and the service went downhill very quickly. I have now switched to Be and I'm getting a faster more relible service for lower cost.
By the way I am puzzled that TT are described as as bad as Tiscali as they rate 7.53 and 4.3 respectively out of 10 on the DSL ZoneUk ISP ratings!
Posted by txrx over 4 years ago
Been a Nildram customer for over 5 years, Tiscali recently bought them out, service has nosedived so badly it's now got to the point where you cannot download a file without corruption. Peak time slow down is phenemonal and crippling. I have no doubt that there are happy tiscali customers out there (and TT) but it's not all a bed of roses.

I have to say farewell to Nildram after all these years and it's not without constant contact with them to resolve these issues.

Posted by CARPETBURN over 4 years ago
Funny how all these never before seen people spring up to say they are happy Tiscali users... Too bad the ISP ratings on this site tell a different and more true story...
Maybe Tiscalis Indian call centre got bored at lunch time?
Posted by comnut over 4 years ago
I think the main point is these happy users are the types who only see about 5 or 6 web pages a day - as Redclift said, not a heavy user, 140M is big to him...

and guys, you have to remember that the small handful here does not represent the *whole* UK!!!
Posted by TGVrecord over 4 years ago
I wonder if TT have any intention of buying Tiscali UK or are just waiting for Tiscali Group to fail and pick up the pieces at bargain basement cost? Judging by the news reports Tiscali need to get a deal by the end of the month. One thing for sure is that the value of Tiscali UK will continue to fall as their subscriber base declines.
Posted by tabitha over 4 years ago
Have been with Tiscali about two years, apart from recent outage problem haven't had any real cause to complain-have broadband,all calls free inc calls to USA etc line rental during the last year constant over 5mbps for £29/month where to go to next ?
Posted by chrysalis over 4 years ago
friend of mine who was on tiscali said its the most severe traffic throttling he ever seen, anything not on ports 80/443/pop/smtp was severely throttled after about 5 secs of burst. The throttle was so severe that sshd timed out logging in there wasnt even enough thoughput to login to servers and use the command line. His speeds I seen on our test servers using non standard ftp ports was under 3kB/sec.
Posted by txrx over 4 years ago
I've got the mac code and now awaiting my activation with NewNet. The throttling, especially at peak times, was blatant, terrible and shocking. My ip route was being re-routed through all sorts of parts of the tiscali network and I've had enough, These 'happy' tiscali users should have a look through the forums at Nildram, pipex and any other tiscali taken over network and see the real picture.
Posted by comnut over 4 years ago
and another point for happy users....
when it is taken over, you may well see the contract terms drastically changed, prices going up, and lots else.... keep yer fingas crossed... :)
Posted by iainw over 4 years ago
with reference to tiscali I was a loyal customer with them for 9 years. They understand our point of view but unfortnary its blame the credit crunch for tiscali victim.
But carphone warehouse is subsruby of AOL (Another crap ISP!!!! Dont signed UP to Talk Talk!!!
Posted by tabitha over 4 years ago
I'm all for the quiet life....just want a reliable inexpensive package with broadband/phone/line with a decent speed.......so I don't have to mess about changing my isp any suggestions?
Posted by TGVrecord over 4 years ago
AOL UK was sold to Carphone Warehouse in October 2006. That makes AOL UK a subsidiary of Carphone Warehouse. By the way it is the end of the month so its crunch time for Tiscali. Tiscali UK will be sold as Tiscali Group have no other options. The only question is will it be before or after Tiscali Group enter administration?
Posted by andys999 over 4 years ago
tabitha
The only 100% way of getting on the net is dial up-people may laugh but at least its reliable,(unless your phonelines with talk talk)lol
Posted by hecatae over 4 years ago
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6229304.ece

Carphone Warehouse hopes to finalise the purchase of Tiscali's UK assets this week in a move that would make it Britain's second-biggest broadband operator.

Both companies are working towards a deadline of tomorrow to sign the deal, although negotiations could continue over the weekend. Both Tiscali and Carphone declined to comment.

Posted by annashaun over 4 years ago
I was with Tiscali for six years it took over lineone, But with all the trouble I jumped overboard, Three weeks ago and whent to o2 my internet speed whent supersonic and as I have an o2 mobile I only pay £17 Plus great service
Posted by TGVrecord over 4 years ago
Tiscali wanted £600m for its 1.8m subscribers. That works out at £333 per subsciber. No wonder Sky and Tiscali turned them down. It is rumoured they may be offered as little as £200m being £111 per subscriber. It is ironic that they could have sold it for £400m a few weeks ago. No wonder they are keen to get people to sign up to long term contracts!
Posted by andys999 over 4 years ago
talk talk ao hell tiscrapi sky bt i mean broadband is 3rd world here in uk that if you put them all together you couldnt make a good broadband provider.AS for virgin media (mr i cant get services when it rains bransons shite lot well that lot need shooting!!)
The cablings falling apart underground,mates a virgin technician they losing customers hand over foot coz of crap cabling underground.
LONG LIVE AND PROSPER THE MOBILE DONGLE
Posted by CARPETBURN over 4 years ago
^^^ So you basically hate every landline type of broadband service but think slow as hell, patchy coverage and expensive Mobile broadband is better or the solution? GET HELP!
Posted by andys999 over 4 years ago
no no no carpetburn,i dont hate all wired broadband,but its unreliable,run by fools ect.
mobile companys are investing massivly in mobile broadband people are sick and tired of mac codes,transfer dates,openreach indian call centres ect.get a grip mate,i get 6.4mb on my voda dongle home wired most i get is 2 mb!!!!!
Posted by drone69 over 4 years ago
I jumped ship to sky a month ago and these people are still trying to bill me.
@ annashaun if you paid by direct debit I`d go to the bank and cancel the direct debit.

The sooner Tiscali/Pipex fold the better. How can a phone company not be able to transfer a phone call to another part of the same department? Ask Tiscali/Pipex.
Posted by CARPETBURN over 4 years ago
quote",i get 6.4mb on my voda dongle home wired most i get is 2 mb!!!!!"

I may be wrong but i think you would be in the minority of people that get faster speed via mobile broadband vs a fixed line. Hopefully when whatever fibre services this country ends up with arrive you wont suffer any more.
Posted by andys999 over 4 years ago
well mr carpetburn i think you need to re-think.
By the time bt/openreach get round to installing more fibre optic cabling mobile broad band will significantly move to higher speeds.
I know many people that have gone to argos ect got a dongle straight on the net,no mac codes line provisioning ect.
people arnt going to hang around for bt to get act together!!
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