TalkTalk says on track for about 1 mn subscribers by end March:

UK telecoms group TalkTalk said its connected TV service was on track for about 1 million subscribers by end of March after the company signed up 175,000 net new customers in the third quarter, which saw its subscriber base rise to 732,000.

TalkTalk was demerged from Carphone Warehouse at the end of 2010 to enable both companies the freedom and flexibility to focuson their individual areas of business.

TalkTalk launched its TV service 18 months ago, as it competed with established players BSkyB and Virgin. It also received a revitalised offer from BT, which boosted its sports content with Premier league football.

Chief executive Dido Harding said in an interview that the company was extremely pleased with the take up of TV.

She added, the company had seen accelerating momentum through the quarter and was on track to have nearly a million TV customers by the end of the financial year.

She said, the group was not targeting people that had comprehensive pay-TV offers, but those seeking a cheaper offer with some additional channel choices, especially in family entertainment, and catch-up services.

The company has also announced a wholesale deal with BSkyB, to enable its customers to pay £9.99 for a day pass for sports content, she said. The deal would also help Sky recoup some cost of its sports rights.

According to Harding, a similar deal with BT was not on the cards.

Thanks to the rapid expansion of its TV arm, the broadband and telecoms company had been able to grow revenues by 5.1 per cent to £436 million over the quarter.

The company had been spun out of mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse in 2010, and had just over 4 million phone and broadband customers.

The company gained from taking on board 103,000 former Post Office broadband customers as also a lower ''churn rate'' with fewer people leaving.

The firm's TV service, using YouView set-top boxes, benefited from the willingness of users to pay for additional content such as on-demand films, boosting viewings from 123,000 to 197,000, with Monsters University the most watched over Christmas.

According to Harding, the company's value-for-money offer was the big driver of expansion.

She added, there were still 7 million adults who had never used the internet and 5 million households with no broadband, adding the market was growing.