TalkTalk is the UK's second largest broadband provider after BT Broadband. It is currently owned by Carphone Warehouse, but is soon to be demerged to become an independent company.

Recently TalkTalk bought the UK Tiscali broadband business which also offered a digital TV service (called Tiscali TV). Tiscali TV has since been largely side-lined.

But now news has emerged that TalkTalk is planning to launch a new TalkTalk digital TV service and mobile phone services, in order to mount a stronger challenge to the other big broadband and digital TV players, like Sky, BT, and Virgin Media who all retail digital TV, broadband and home phone services in discounted bundles.

TalkTalk has identified digital TV and mobile services as new sources of growth, given that the fixed-line broadband market is rapidly maturing. And TalkTalk has chosen to piggy-back Project Canvas as the most cost effective way to launch a major push into the digital TV market. These plans are likely to come to fruition in 2011.

Project Canvas is a BBC-led consortium that is preparing to launch a broadband-enabled digital TV set top box before the end of 2010.