Broadband

Beleaguered broadband provider TalkTalk's offering a seriously cheap line rental and broadband tariff – the cheapest we've seen in 2016, if you can get the £120 voucher as part of it. But TalkTalk has rock-bottom customer service, so should you switch?

Broadband firms will be forced to repair faults quickly, speed up installation, improve reliability and pay out automatic compensation to customers hit by service outages under far-reaching plans announced today by the UK telecoms regulator.

More than three quarters of those who've tried to haggle with 10 big-name providers have managed to agree a better deal, with the AA and Sky the companies most open to negotiation, according to a poll of almost 4,000 MoneySavingExpert users.

Telecoms firms have been told they should stop advertising broadband as "free" if it comes with a hefty price tag for line rental attached, under tighter rules being brought in to ensure companies aren't "confusing and misleading" customers about the true cost of deals.

BT's £12.5 billon buyout of mobile phone giant EE has been given the go-ahead after a six-month inquiry by the competition regulator. But if you're an EE customer, you won't see any change to your contract when the merger goes ahead, probably at the end of this month.

Millions of Sky customers hit with inflation-busting line-rental price rises last month have been given a fresh opportunity to haggle a better deal after action by regulator Ofcom.

If you're one of TalkTalk's four million customers you've until Thursday to claim a free upgrade – including free Sky Sports for TV customers or a 12-month mobile Sim – after the telecoms giant extended its deadline.

It's Christmas week. If you're off work (or bored at it), stuffed with turkey, and desperate to avoid the relatives...

TalkTalk customers attempting to claim a free upgrade offered to them in the wake of October's high-profile hack have been left frustrated after logging in to their accounts to find they were unable to select the upgrade they wanted.

TalkTalk has today started giving out free upgrades to all four million of its customers – including free Sky Sports for its TV users – to "say thank you" for sticking with the firm after a data hack left nearly 157,000 account holders' personal details exposed.