Data breach cost TalkTalk 376,000 customers
In Q1, TalkTalk lost 126k customers, half those lost in Q4 2015, following the massive personal data breach of 157k customers, but increased its share of new customers by 3.2%, reaching 12.2%, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. However, over 40% of new customers joined because of its low cost or a promotion offer and over 17% of existing customers are considering leaving the company "at the next available opportunity," well above other broadband providers.

British triple-play service provider TalkTalk has reportedly lost 126,000 customers in the first quarter of 2016, but also increased its share of newly acquired users.

Although still significant, the exodus during Q1 2016 was only half that of Q4 2015, when 250,000 customers left TalkTalk (the net loss, after new subscribers were factored in, was 101,000 customers). The massive cyberattack that led to the data of 157,000 users being stolen, including "obscured credit and debit card numbers," was probably a major factor in that.

Working hard to regain the market share across broadband, fixed landline, and paid television, TalkTalk has attracted a bunch of newcomers this year. Its share of new customers on the market has reached 12.2 percent, 3.2 percentage points more than in the previous quarter, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

“There are signs that TalkTalk’s efforts to repair some of the damage it suffered since the data hack last year are beginning to pay off," said Imran Choudhary, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel. "Increased value propositions and heavy promotional activity have led to a robust performance in the first quarter of this year… Over 40 percent of its new customers said they chose TalkTalk due to its low cost or a promotion on offer—well above the market average of 30 percent.”

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All in all, the service provider still has a long way to go to rebuild its business. At some point the company will probably have to focus on making existing customers happy: "Over 17% of [TalkTalk's] current broadband base is considering leaving them at the next available opportunity, a far higher proportion than anyone else," Choudhary said.

Meanwhile, BT continued to dominate the market in terms of new customer acquisition in the first quarter of 2016, picking up 31.5 percent of the market. Over the past year it has managed to surpass Sky, which saw its share of new users drop 5 percentage points to 23.3 percent.

"Sky’s performance hasn’t been as strong in the broadband market this quarter, and with BT continuing to make up ground in TV, Sky will have to rely on the strength of its customer engagement and loyalty to continue to drive up profit margins," Choudhary commented. "Sky is comfortably the number one brand within paid TV subscriptions so is ideally placed to grow revenues from its existing base by looking to get customers to trade up to the likes of Sky Q and other premium services."