How did BT Retail know?

ISPReview.co.uk has published a copy of some marketing material that BT Retail has been sending out to people who use Tiscali Broadband or one of its subsidaries such as Pipex and Nildram.

Competition among broadband providers to retain its existing customers or attract customers away from competitors is increasing as the number of people who don't have broadband starts to diminish. The BT letter is perhaps different to most in that it centres around raising doubt about the Tiscali service in relation to the planned sell-off of the provider. The sell-off while widely publicised may still surprise some, particular Nildram and Pipex customers not aware that Tiscali is currently the big name behind their connections.

According to the various quotes that people have obtained from BT already, BT staff are apparently suggesting that the fact that certain people had a Tiscali connection has come from marketing lists purchased in from external sources. Certainly BT Retail would be in a lot of trouble if it has used things like broadband tag information to target rivals customers. The reach of the firms that cull customer information from various sources is very far reaching, and it is all to easy to end up with your details being sold in bulk.

It's been shown that a number of Tiscali customers being offered deals on their broadband service if willing to sign up for a new 12 month contract. So some Tiscali customers may be feeled hemmed in with marketing approaches from several quarters.