TalkTalk is due to launch its own handsets this year, which will broaden the business beyond serving just as a network provider.

This news came from the TalkTalk group's preliminary financial results, which carried the line "We plan to launch a handset proposition later this year in addition to our existing SIM only and data products."

The masses who have also utilised TalkTalk's prominent budget broadband and mobile tariff services will now be hoping for equally affordable mobile phones.

These handsets are unlikely to compete at the top-end of the smartphone market, but a budget-friendly range could yet prove a significant addition to TalkTalk's expansion.

Since striking a deal with Vodafone in 2010 and becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), the company has generated a strong 70,000 customers base on SIM-only tariffs. This success that has now prompted the move into the handset market.

In that same year, TalkTalk separated itself from Carphone Warehouse and began to operate as a standalone company.

Little is known about the products, but the phones will be available from its online store, as well as Argos, Asda, Comet and Tesco.

Source: somobile