BT’s TalkTalk deal could add 270,000 EE customers

BT could add up to 270,000 EE mobile customers through its takeover of TalkTalk, according to new analysis from Opensignal.

BT has agreed to buy TalkTalk out of administration in a deal it expects to cost around £400 million in cash.

The deal brings 1.5 million TalkTalk broadband customers to BT, and most of them already connect over Openreach, so they will not need to move networks.

The Competition and Markets Authority will report on the deal by 19 October.

Opensignal found that 13% of TalkTalk broadband customers with an identified mobile connection use EE, compared with 31% of BT’s own broadband customers.

TalkTalk’s figure matches Virgin Media’s broadband base at 13% and sits close to Sky’s at 14%. Opensignal said bundling EE with BT broadband drives the higher share among BT customers.

The firm reached the 270,000 figure by applying BT’s 18-point lead to TalkTalk’s 1.5 million customers. It described this as an upper bound, which assumes every TalkTalk household has an identified mobile connection and behaves like a BT household.

EE losing switchers in TalkTalk homes

EE wins nine mobile switches for every 10 it loses among TalkTalk households, giving it a win-per-loss score of 0.9. A score above 1 means a network gains customers in that group, while a score below 1 means it loses them.

EE scores 1.1 among BT’s own broadband customers.

MVNOs and other smaller brands serve 37% of TalkTalk customers’ mobile connections. This is the highest share across all the broadband bases Opensignal measured, with the next highest at 30%.

Lebara leads the smaller brands with a score of 2.0 in TalkTalk homes and 1.7 in BT homes. Other MVNOs score 1.4 in both groups, and Tesco Mobile and giffgaff also score above 1 in both.

O2 scores the lowest at 0.4 in both groups, which means it loses more than two customers for every one it wins. Vodafone scores 0.9 in both, while Three scores 0.7 in TalkTalk homes and 0.6 in BT homes.

Bundles keep customers longer

Opensignal found that customers who buy broadband and mobile from the same provider leave at a lower rate than those who buy them separately. Vodafone’s mobile churn runs nearly two times lower among customers who also take its broadband.

Owning a mobile network does not guarantee broadband customers will use it. Opensignal found that 47% of Vodafone’s broadband customers use Vodafone mobile, 29% of Virgin Media’s use O2, and 12% of Sky’s use Sky Mobile.

BT faces a pricing decision

Opensignal said that if BT sells EE to TalkTalk customers at current prices, many households may stay with their existing provider, and EE’s share could remain near 13%.

A cheaper bundled offer could win over more TalkTalk customers, though BT would earn less from each one. The firm said BT could also position BT Mobile as a cheaper way into the group than EE.

Vodafone runs separate budget brands for the same reason, and VOXI and SMARTY added 34,000 customers in Vodafone’s latest quarter.

The average broadband switching incentive has risen from £70.90 to £91.50 where providers offer one, and the top end has climbed from £140 to £210. UK broadband prices have fallen every quarter since mid-2025.

Opensignal expects EE’s share of switches won in TalkTalk homes to stay below its share of switches lost if BT leads with EE pricing. The firm plans to measure TalkTalk’s customer base again once BT launches its first offer to TalkTalk customers.

Opensignal based its figures on its UK consumer panel rather than company-reported customer numbers. The data reflects the last week of August 2026, and the switching figures cover the previous 12 months.

Now read: Virgin Media slams BT’s TalkTalk takeover as a “stitch up”