BT buys TalkTalk

BT Group bought TalkTalk and its wholesale arm PlatformX out of administration on Monday (5 October), taking on 2.5 million customers.

BT announced the deal in a statement and said the total cash cost of the acquisition this financial year would come to around £400 million.

The deal covers TalkTalk’s 1.5 million retail customers and 1 million wholesale customers across the UK.

BT said these include vulnerable households and connections that support health, emergency services, defence, education, transport, banking and government.

TalkTalk generated revenue of around £1.2 billion over the past 12 months and made a loss, according to BT.

TalkTalk and BT will operate separately and continue to compete while a regulatory review of the deal takes place over the coming weeks.

“This is a genuinely unprecedented situation, where millions of citizens and businesses were at risk if TalkTalk had collapsed,” said Allison Kirkby, Chief Executive of BT Group.

“Our immediate priority is to stabilise the business and provide a safety net for the households and businesses who rely on TalkTalk,” said Kirkby.

BT said TalkTalk customers would get access to its network and full range of products once the regulatory process concludes.

TalkTalk told customers there would be no change to their price, contract or how they access billing.

The company said customers did not need to do anything and that it did not plan any downtime or outages as a result of the deal.

Online accounts, billing information, broadband, landline and TV services will all continue as normal, and TalkTalk said it has no immediate plans to retire any products.

TalkTalk also addressed reports of rival suppliers contacting its customers to tell them their service was at risk and that they should switch.

“Your service is not at risk – keeping customers connected, supported and in control is our main priority,” TalkTalk said.

Customers with questions can call TalkTalk on 0345 172 0088.

BT said it stepped in after a prolonged sale process for TalkTalk’s consumer and wholesale businesses failed to find a buyer.

The move comes after reports in September that Octopus Investments was no longer in exclusive talks to buy PlatformX, and that TalkTalk had until the end of the month to resolve its future.

TalkTalk’s latest annual accounts showed a £465 million loss for the year to February 2025 and net debt of £1.2 billion.

The Telegraph reported in June 2025, when BT first explored a takeover, that a combined business would hold around 36% of the UK broadband market.

BT appointed Clive Selley, previously CEO of BT International, to lead the stabilisation and integration planning for the acquisition with immediate effect.

Now read: Vodafone launches TV box with Netflix and HBO Max for £17 a month in the UK