The Carphone Warehouse has announced that its TalkTalk broadband ISP and line rental division will be split off from the whole to operate as its own separate business. The move is believed to have been trigged by Carphone's lower than expected results (original news) and the need for greater impartiality in the mobile market.

TalkTalk is now expected to focus exclusively on the broadband side of Carphone's business, which will also encompass subscribers from AOL UK, OneTel and even Tiscali UK if its bid succeeds. However, it does beg the question; will prices rise without Carphone to help prop up its cheap broadband and line rental packages? TalkTalk should have enough users on unbundled (LLU) lines to balance the books but we suspect it'll still be a tight squeeze.