{"id":25600,"date":"2021-01-21T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T00:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=25600"},"modified":"2021-01-20T15:38:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T15:38:14","slug":"broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html","title":{"rendered":"Broadband ISP TalkTalk Preps New UK Smart Home Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Budget conscious internet provider TalkTalk<\/a> appears to be nearing completion of a new ‘Smart Home Protection<\/em>‘ service (app), which is currently being trialled by a number of their broadband customers and looks to be an upgrade of their existing ‘Supersafe Boost’ (usually costs an extra \u00a34 per month) and HomeSafe service.<\/p>\n

At present the paid Superfast Boost<\/strong> service, which is powered by internet security firm F-Secure<\/strong>, combines online protection against viruses, ransomware, phishing scams and malicious websites – for up to 10 devices on your local network – with a password manager. This can work across desktop computers, tablets and Smartphones etc.<\/p>\n

On top of that TalkTalk<\/a> also gives customers the ability to enable HomeSafe<\/strong>, which features three web filter settings – ‘Virus Alert’, ‘Kids Safe’ and ‘Homework’ time that can block social networking and games sites at specific times, as well as the ability to block individual sites.<\/p>\n

However, the provider has recently been busy developing a new Smart Home Protection<\/strong> (SHP) service, which by the looks of it appears to combine elements from both Superfast and HomeSafe into a single solution. Apparently this is the “combination of a security feature embedded on our [Wi-Fi Hub] router, an advanced security app [for Android and iOS] and industry-leading cloud protection<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

The blurb from the trial offers some additional context: “SHP easily secures every connected thing in your home using one device, now and in the future. Per device control and protection … allowing you to individually apply parental controls and content filtering on all connected devices. SHP protects everything connected in your home, from desktop computers and phones to smart TVs and baby monitors. Its IoT security technology senses traffic from connected devices to provide extra protection against IoT threats<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

\"talktalk_smart_home_protection_app_screens\"<\/p>\n

At the time of writing TalkTalk<\/a>’s closed trial app for Android has already been installed over 1,000 times, although some of those will be from people who didn’t realise they needed to be invited to the beta before you can actually make use of the new app (partly because the service may require a beta firmware update to the Wi-Fi Hub router).<\/p>\n

The ISP has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that they are indeed testing the new service, but they added that “there is no confirmed date for launch yet<\/em>.” We\u2019ll keep an eye out for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Budget conscious internet provider TalkTalk appears to be nearing completion of a new ‘Smart Home Protection‘ service (app), which is currently being trialled by a number of their broadband customers and looks to be an upgrade of their existing ‘Supersafe Boost’ (usually costs an extra \u00a34 per month) and HomeSafe service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[109,479,74],"class_list":["post-25600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk_isp_news","tag-internet-privacy","tag-security","tag-talktalk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"yoast_head":"\nBroadband ISP TalkTalk Preps New UK Smart Home Protection - ISPreview UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Budget conscious internet provider TalkTalk appears to be nearing completion of a new 'Smart Home Protection' service (app), which is currently being\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Broadband ISP TalkTalk Preps New UK Smart Home Protection - ISPreview UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Budget conscious internet provider TalkTalk appears to be nearing completion of a new 'Smart Home Protection' service (app), which is currently being\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ISPreview UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-21T00:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/nggallery_import\/talktalk_smart_home_protection.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Jackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ispreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ispreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Jackson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Jackson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5\"},\"headline\":\"Broadband ISP TalkTalk Preps New UK Smart Home Protection\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-21T00:01:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"commentCount\":16,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/talktalk_smart_home_protection.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Internet Privacy\",\"Security\",\"TalkTalk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ISP News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html\",\"name\":\"Broadband ISP TalkTalk Preps New UK Smart Home Protection - 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Just to recap. In 2020 TalkTalk became the subject of a \u00a31.1bn takeover by Toscafund - controlled by hedge fund tycoon Martin Hughes (here), which including debt valued the broadband provider at around \u00a31.8bn. The deal took the ISP private and gave them more financial flexibility for their future plans. Since then, they've backed Freedom Fibre (here) and this week made the notable acquisition of Ethernet provider Virtual1 (here). According to the FT (paywall) and Sky News, TalkTalk is now said to have asked investment bank Lazard to review its options after allegedly being approach by several groups, including Vodafone and Sky (Sky Broadband). Lazard is a logical choice as they recently acted as Financial Advisor to TalkTalk on the Virtual1 transaction. Some industry analysts have reportedly suggested that TalkTalk itself could now be worth \\\"at least\\\" \u00a33bn. But this seems rather optimistic for an ISP that doesn't have any significant fixed line broadband infrastructure to call its own (excluding their old unbundled LLU network) and largely just piggybacks off Openreach (BT), CityFibre and Freedom Fibre. But TalkTalk do have a strong business and wholesale side. Funnily enough, Sky Broadband are in a similar position with their own fixed line base, while Vodafone also likes to piggyback off Openreach and CityFibre. At present, Vodafone has a fixed broadband base of 991,000 customers, while Sky Broadband is estimated to be home to around 6.7 million and TalkTalk has approximately 4.2 million. Suffice to say, anybody gobbling up TalkTalk would instantly become a much larger provider, giving them a greater say in how the UK broadband market develops and more opportunities for convergence (Vodafone with mobile, and Sky with mobile and TV). Crucially, TalkTalk's consumer base is mostly made up of those on older copper and hybrid fibre lines (i.e. ADSL and FTTC \\\/ VDSL2), which are ripe for a future migration to FTTP. At the time of writing, all of the aforementioned operators have decline to comment on the reports, and TalkTalk has yet to receive any serious formal offers. In other words, we strongly suspect that this is largely just an exercise in spin to help TalkTalk drum up some more productive interest in the idea. But at the same time, it's not unreasonable to suspect that they might succeed, as the interest seems genuine. On the other hand, we see reports like this every year or so and only a very few ever convert into a serious offer. Time will tell. Much may depend upon whether or not TalkTalk\u2019s new owners are more flexible and pragmatic about doing a deal than the previous lot. 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Just to recap. In 2020 TalkTalk became the subject of a \u00a31.1bn takeover by Toscafund - controlled by hedge fund tycoon Martin Hughes (here), which including debt valued the broadband provider at around \u00a31.8bn. The deal took the ISP private and gave them more financial flexibility for their future plans. Since then, they've backed Freedom Fibre (here) and this week made the notable acquisition of Ethernet provider Virtual1 (here). According to the FT (paywall) and Sky News, TalkTalk is now said to have asked investment bank Lazard to review its options after allegedly being approach by several groups, including Vodafone and Sky (Sky Broadband). Lazard is a logical choice as they recently acted as Financial Advisor to TalkTalk on the Virtual1 transaction. Some industry analysts have reportedly suggested that TalkTalk itself could now be worth \"at least\" \u00a33bn. But this seems rather optimistic for an ISP that doesn't have any significant fixed line broadband infrastructure to call its own (excluding their old unbundled LLU network) and largely just piggybacks off Openreach (BT), CityFibre and Freedom Fibre. But TalkTalk do have a strong business and wholesale side. Funnily enough, Sky Broadband are in a similar position with their own fixed line base, while Vodafone also likes to piggyback off Openreach and CityFibre. At present, Vodafone has a fixed broadband base of 991,000 customers, while Sky Broadband is estimated to be home to around 6.7 million and TalkTalk has approximately 4.2 million. Suffice to say, anybody gobbling up TalkTalk would instantly become a much larger provider, giving them a greater say in how the UK broadband market develops and more opportunities for convergence (Vodafone with mobile, and Sky with mobile and TV). Crucially, TalkTalk's consumer base is mostly made up of those on older copper and hybrid fibre lines (i.e. ADSL and FTTC \/ VDSL2), which are ripe for a future migration to FTTP. At the time of writing, all of the aforementioned operators have decline to comment on the reports, and TalkTalk has yet to receive any serious formal offers. In other words, we strongly suspect that this is largely just an exercise in spin to help TalkTalk drum up some more productive interest in the idea. But at the same time, it's not unreasonable to suspect that they might succeed, as the interest seems genuine. On the other hand, we see reports like this every year or so and only a very few ever convert into a serious offer. Time will tell. Much may depend upon whether or not TalkTalk\u2019s new owners are more flexible and pragmatic about doing a deal than the previous lot. Arguably, TalkTalk might have gone much further by now had they taken some different decisions a few years ago (e.g. co-investing in FTTP instead of Pay TV)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/broadband-isp-talktalk-preps-new-uk-smart-home-protection.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Broadband ISP TalkTalk Preps New UK Smart Home Protection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/","name":"ISPreview UK","description":"Top Broadband ISP and Mobile Provider Information Site","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization","name":"ISPreview.co.uk","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"ISPreview.co.uk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/x.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mjack\/","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/ispreview.bsky.social","https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ispreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5","name":"Mark Jackson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","caption":"Mark Jackson"},"description":"By Mark Jackson Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. 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