Telecom Acquisitions Group Acquires Eco UK ISP Earth Broadband UPDATE2

The Horsham-based Telecom Acquisitions Group (TAL), which is a holding company for a number of familiar residential-focused internet service provider brands (Home Telecom, Eclipse Broadband etc.), has acquired both the brand and customer base of another troubled ISP in the shape of Earth Broadband.

Earth Broadband (earth.) is a relatively new provider, which first popped up on our radar in 2023 alongside a commitment to plant 500,000 trees and remove 100,000 pounds of plastic each month by 2025 (here) – based on the optimistic assumption of having gained 100,000 customers. Speaking of which, on 4th Aug 2025 the provider reported that they’d so far helped to plant a total of 100,000 trees – good, but below the original target.

In any case, the latest development is that TAL appears to have completed the acquisition of Earth Broadband, which covers both their customer base and brand – this will now be managed under TAL’s existing Home Telecom brand.

The move comes shortly after Earth Broadband suffered a string of problems with poor support, billing errors and price rises (here). At the same time, a representative of the provider also revealed that it had been “selling broadband at a loss“, which may help to explain the latest development.

A quick look at Earth Broadband’s latest micro accounts shows that the company’s total assets less current liabilities stood at -£111k for the year ended 30th April 2024, which compares with -£75k reported in the prior year.

Luke Chapman, CEO of Earth Broadband, said:

“After an incredible three years, my time at Earth Broadband has come to an end.

Earth Broadband’s customers and brand have been acquired by Telecom Acquisitions Limited, and I’m genuinely pleased to know our customers are going to a great home.

Building Earth Broadband has been an amazing journey. I’ve learned so much, worked with some brilliant people, and had a lot of fun along the way.

I’m grateful to everyone who’s been part of this chapter and I’m excited to see what’s next!”

We’re expecting TAL to issue an official press release on this today or tomorrow. The new owner is expected to inform Earth Broadband’s existing customers that their current terms, conditions, and pricing will remain the same. The provider’s customers, who are mainly connected to the PXC network (formerly TalkTalk Wholesale), should hopefully not experience any service disruption during the change. Credits to an anonymous reader for the tip.

UPDATE 31st August 2025 @ 7:51am

TAL has confirmed to ISPreview that they did purchase the customer assets on the 29th August of Earth Broadband Ltd. “Official notification will be sent to the customers on Monday confirming our purchase of the Customer contracts. They will remain with the same terms & conditions including prices,” said TAL’s CEO, Nigel Barnett.

One catch with this, which may cause some confusion and contractual debate, is with regards to the previously reported issue of wrong payments and charges (billing errors). TAL says that any of those that occurred up to the 29th August 2025 will “remain the responsibility of Luke Chapman at Earth Broadband“.

However, it’s unclear how the above will be settled as, under UK consumer law, the acquiring company is usually the one responsible for rectifying the mistakes. Otherwise, TAL itself will bill from the 1st September and collect accordingly through GoCardless.

“Recently, we have been quieter on the acquisition front as we have been very fortunate to be growing organically through our traditional marketing model, which produced 31,000 opportunities for us in July alone,” added Nigel.

UPDATE 3rd September 2025 @ 12:11pm

TAL has published an official press release on the deal, which notes that they’ve acquired 4,000 customers.

TAL CEO, Nigel Barnett, said:

“Over the last few years, we have successfully acquired 13 company bases, onboarding and supporting them in a matter of weeks, which is a record we are proud of.

As an ecologically conscious business, Earth has planted circa 100,000 trees across the world. Its philosophy excites us, and we will continue with the good work they have established by giving something back to the planet.

Earth is a dynamic group of bright young people who will blend seamlessly with our team at Home Telecom under the stewardship of my daughter, Sasha. Earth has built its reputation and customer outreach based on intelligent technology, enabling staff to manage its estate with very little overhead. This minimizes manual intervention and is something we could all learn from.

All current customers terms, conditions and pricing will remain the same or will be enhanced.”