TalkTalk: no Phorm without BT

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 7 Jul 2009 at 13:29

Carphone Warehouse's broadband arm, TalkTalk, will not consider rolling out Phorm without BT.

Speaking in The Times, chief executive Charles Dunstone admitted that, "we were only going to do it if BT did it and if the whole industry was doing it. We were not interested enough to do it on our own."

BT confirmed yesterday that it had no "immediate plans" to roll out Phorm's Webwise system which tracks internet browsing history to serve tailored ads to users. Virgin Media has also distanced itself from the service, claiming it was exploring other options.

That means Phorm has now lost Britain's three biggest ISPs, and with them access to around 75% of the market.

However, Phorm remains bullish claiming that it has sought to diversify its business over the last year and is focusing on "opportunities abroad".

[photo: Underground surveillance by Kun Dang; some rights reserved]