iTalk Telecom review

At a glance

iTalk special offers

New iTalk Telecom customers are eligible for the following special offer:

	Offer	Terms
Get this offer	italk Full Fibre broadband from just £25.99 a month (was £35.99)	24 month contract. £8.95 setup fee. Get this offer

What iTalk Telecom offers

What we like	What we don't like
Competitive copper broadband deals	Expensive for no-frills broadband
Straightforward and uncomplicated	Call plans don't include mobiles
Cheap call plans available	Only 24-month deals available
	Basic router

iTalk broadband deals

Broadband packages

iTalk Telecom are a nationwide broadband provider operating on the Openreach superfast network, so their services should be available to most customers across the UK.

iTalk offer three broadband packages including two fibre broadband deals:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Simply Broadband	10Mb average	£28.99	£12.95	24 months
Go	Fast Fibre	35Mb average	£37.39	£12.95	24 months
Go	Superfast Fibre	63Mb average	£42.39	£12.95	24 months

There are a couple of important things to note about iTalk's broadband deals:

• They all come with 24-month contracts. While a growing number of providers tie customers in for 24 months, these lengthy contracts may put people off. Look at the likes of Plusnet for 18-month contracts or some providers like Now even offer 12-month deals.
• A set-up fee applies, although it's only a small one.
• No calls are included with their packages - see below for add-on options.

The jump between their standard copper broadband and their entry-level fibre deal seems rather steep, especially when other providers like TalkTalk are trying to encourage customers to switch to fibre by making it economically attractive to do so.

Let's take a closer look at how they compare to other broadband providers on price.

How do iTalk compare?

When it comes to their entry-level fibre option, iTalk haven't yet joined the budget wars where providers including Plusnet and Vodafone vie to offer the cheapest deals.

Here is iTalk's Unlimited Fibre (35Mb) package in comparison to some of the cheapest broadband providers in the UK:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Fibre 1	35Mb average	£24	Free	24 months
Go	Fab Fibre	36Mb average	£24	£10	12 months
	Offer: Now TV membership at reduced price for 12 months. Price may change again during the minimum term.
Go	Unlimited Fibre	66Mb average	£24.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: Reduced price + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers
Go	Fibre 35	38Mb average	£28	Free	18 months
	Offer: Free Setup (worth £15)
Go	Fast Fibre	35Mb average	£37.39	£12.95	24 months

As we can see, iTalk doesn't come anywhere close to rivalling the budget broadband providers on price, while both Plusnet and Now offer shorter contract terms and several providers don't charge set-up fees.

If we look at the next tier up, it's a similar story:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Fibre 2	60Mb average	£25	Free	24 months
Go	Super Fibre	63Mb average	£24	£10	12 months
	Offer: Now TV membership at reduced price for 12 months. Price may change again during the minimum term.
Go	Unlimited Fibre Extra	66Mb average	£26.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: Reduced price + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers
Go	Fibre 65	67Mb average	£29.95	Free	18 months
	Offer: Free Setup (worth £15)
Go	Superfast Fibre	63Mb average	£42.39	£12.95	24 months

Again, iTalk are markedly more expensive than their competitors, so if you're looking for the cheapest broadband options, it'd be better to look elsewhere.

While price isn't everything, it's worth noting iTalk don't necessarily offer anything spectacular for the extra money.

Unlike BT, who are often considered more of a premium broadband provider, they don't offer an exceptional router or extras such as access to BT's five million hotspots across the UK.

So, it's difficult to see why customers would opt for the more expensive options from iTalk unless they've had problems with other broadband providers and are looking for something fresh.

One final note: iTalk's standard copper broadband is more competitive than their fibre deals as this table shows:

	Package	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Brilliant Broadband	11Mb average	£20	£10	12 months
	Offer: Now TV membership at reduced price for 12 months. Price may change again during the minimum term.
Go	Unlimited + Evening & Weekend calls	10Mb average	£25	Free	12 months
Go	Unlimited + Line only	10Mb average	£25.99	Free	24 months
	Offer: Reduced price + No setup fee + Exclusive offers and discounts for Plusnet customers
Go	Simply Broadband	10Mb average	£28.99	£12.95	24 months

Again, iTalk aren't the cheapest but they do offer competitive standard broadband deals, making them a decent option for customers who aren't looking for top speeds.

Call plans

Three different call plans can be added to iTalk Telecom broadband plans during the checkout stage.

These are the bundles:

As the table shows, no mobile calls are included in these talk bundles and customers will need to pay a 22p connection fee and 17.5p per minute if they want to call mobile numbers.

So, these call plans are useful for customers who only call landlines, but things can get expensive if mobile calls are thrown into the mix.

For reference, these are the countries included in the International call bundle:

All call packages are subject to a 24-month contract.

There are also some extra call options that can be added to telephone packages including:

Broadband router

The router that comes with iTalk's broadband packages is a black ZyXEL model, but that's literally the only official information we have about it.

Comments on forums suggest it might be a basic single-band router, meaning customers used to faster dual-band routers may find it slower than they're used to.

iTalk's broadband package details only say that customers trying to identify their router should contact the Customer Care team, suggesting different models of ZyXEL are provided to customers.

Given no further details, we can't comment on the capabilities of the router, although iTalk do say it's worth £99 and it comes free with broadband packages.

Important terms and conditions

Buried within iTalk's terms and conditions, there are some clauses to be aware of.

Most of the terms are similar to other broadband providers, covering the responsibilities of the customer to use the equipment legally and the general rights of broadband customers enshrined in Ofcom legislation.

Yet the following clauses are worth noting.

Traffic management

It's legal for broadband companies to manage traffic to ensure the efficiency of their service, just as long as they're upfront about it and are only managing traffic for the purposes of service quality - they're not allowed to do it for commercial reasons.

iTalk are upfront in their terms and conditions about their traffic management:

• They may manage applications across the network at their discretion. This may include (but is not limited to) giving priority to web traffic and email over other services such as file sharing and streaming at times of high traffic congestion.

In other words, if the networks are busy, streaming services will be the first to be sacrificed, leading to buffering or an inability to stream at all.

It's worth noting these terms aren't unique to iTalk, but they're worth being aware of.

There's more information about broadband traffic management and fair use policies in this guide.

No speed guarantees

iTalk also make clear in their terms and conditions that customers shouldn't expect to receive guaranteed minimum speeds, no matter what package they're on.

Speed guarantees have become more common, with BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media signed up to a limited Voluntary Code of Practice which means customers should be given realistic estimates at the point of sale and that customers have the right to exit their contract if speeds drop below minimum levels for 30 days without the problem being fixed.

However, iTalk are not signed up to this Voluntary Code and they state clearly in their terms and conditions that they don't guarantee speeds:

• Customers must accept iTalk cannot guarantee a connection will reach any specific speeds or that they will have maximum speeds on their broadband connection.

So, customers hoping to have speed guarantees when they sign up to a broadband contract will have to look elsewhere. Find out more about advertised broadband speeds and what they mean.

Payments

While most of us are used to paying our broadband bills by direct debit, it isn't always mandated by the broadband.

However, iTalk Telecom customers must commit to paying their bills by direct debit in order, iTalk say, to keep the overall costs of their network down.

iTalk also charge customers £10 if a direct debit isn't processed and a £10 late payment charge, so it's worth getting in touch before late payment becomes an issue.

If customers are struggling to pay on time, they're advised to contact the Customer Care team to discuss options.

Again, these terms aren't unusual, but they're worth knowing about.

Early termination charges

Like all broadband providers, iTalk charge early termination fees if customers need to cancel their broadband before the end of their contract.

Unlike some, though, iTalk clearly state what these are:

So, if a customer wanted to cancel their 24-month Unlimited Superfast Fibre contract after 18 months, they would need to pay £132 to exit.

If they fail to return their equipment to iTalk within 30 days, that will incur another fee of £65.

Customer service

As iTalk are a relatively small broadband provider, they aren't routinely included in the customer service data produced by regulator Ofcom.

One thing we can definitely say is that iTalk haven't been rebuked by Ofcom for their customer service - they haven't been issued with fines or publicly warned about service issues.

To get a better idea of their customer service, we can look at iTalk's Trustpilot rating. On Trustpilot, iTalk has:

• An average TrustScore of 4.7 out of 5 based on over 13,000 reviews
• 82% of their customers labelling them as Excellent
• 9% of their customers labelling them as Great
• Only 6% of their customers labelling them as Bad

Compared to their broadband rivals, that 6% is actually very good. These are the Bad percentages of some of their rivals:

• Plusnet - 84% (overall 1.5)
• TalkTalk - 44% (overall 2.4)
• Zen Internet - 7% (overall 4.2)
• John Lewis - 82% (overall 1.5)
• Direct Save Telecom - 24% (overall 3.9)

Even Direct Save Telecom who have an overall good score still have 24% poor reviews, so iTalk's performance, on this review site at least, seems positive.

We also know that iTalk have UK based customer care and support teams as they're vocal about this on their website.

Verdict: Is iTalk Telecom any good?

iTalk will be an unfamiliar broadband provider to many, and it's true they offer a basic broadband service with no frills that will appeal to certain types of customers.

Their copper broadband prices are cheap and competitive, plus their decision to include only landline calls with their home phone plans suggests they're aiming their services at people who want basic home broadband and landline services rather than anything fancier.

They are definitely on the pricier side for fibre with monthly pricing far above the most popular budget broadband providers, and they tie customers into 24-month contracts too.

As we have little information about their router, it's difficult to make a judgement on how reliable their broadband connection will be, although there doesn't seem to be a significant problem with reliability in their Trustpilot reviews.

Their customer service staff are praised on Trustpilot for being very helpful, and some customers will appreciate signing up to a company committed to UK call centres.

If we're judging iTalk on price alone, they don't compare well with their rivals, yet the overall package may be attractive to customers who want a no-frills service from a UK-centric broadband company.