Major broadband firm with 100,000s customers AXING free service and forcing people to pay £60 fee
All TalkTalk email customers are being moved to a new provider called Everymail from Open-Xchange, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
TalkTalk began emailing customers last month to let them know that their email account will be closed if they do not sign up to the new provider.
Users who don't join Everymail will lose their existing email address, inbox, contacts and calendar.
Those who sign up will be able to keep these services but will need to pay a fee of £5 a month, or £60 a year.
The change will affect thousands of people who received a TalkTalk email when they first signed up to the broadband company but later switched to another provider.
TalkTalk will gradually close the inboxes of customers who don't sign up over the next few months.
It will begin to restrict customers' email access after July 31, which means they will not be able to send emails but will still be able to access ones they have already received.
Those who do not sign up by September 9 will have their mailbox frozen but it will not yet be deleted.
But after October 31 their email inbox and account will be erased altogether.
Once the accounts are deleted it will not be possible to recover them.
Any emails that are sent to the account will be automatically returned to the sender.
TalkTalk said it will contact users several times before their account is closed.
It will either ask them to take action to keep their email address or download important data which can be transferred to another email provider.
A TalkTalk spokesperson said that the changes will 'ensure the best user experience'.
They added: 'We are actively communicating with all those affected. We are providing several options and users are free to download and transfer their data.'
Free email providers
WORRIED about your email being tied to your internet provider?
There are plenty of excellent free email services you can use instead.
Here are a few popular choices:
Examples include:
Gmail: Google's offering is feature-rich, with plenty of storage and excellent spam filtering. Integrates seamlessly with other Google services.
Outlook.com: Microsoft's webmail service offers a clean interface and integrates with Microsoft Office apps. Good storage options are available.
Yahoo! Mail: A long-standing provider with a large storage capacity. It includes a built-in newsfeed.
Proton Mail: For those prioritising privacy, Proton Mail offers end-to-end encryption. Based in Switzerland, it has strong data protection laws (free but limited storage).
GMX Mail: Offers a good balance of features and storage space. Includes a spam filter and virus protection.
In its email to affected customers, TalkTalk also provided instructions on how to download email data for free, which will help customers to transfer their emails to another provider.
This includes emails they have sent or received, saved contacts, calendar appointments and tasks.
Which other providers have made changes to their services?
TalkTalk is not the only broadband provider to axe its free email service.
Plusnet began to move its email customers to a new platform in May.
Customers with existing Plusnet email addresses and inboxes will be migrated to a new provider called Greenby by the end of November.
Once the switch is complete customers with Plusnet broadband at the time of migration will get two years of free email service with Greenby.
But customers who no longer have Plusnet broadband when their account is migrated will only get 30 days of free service, after which they will need to pay £15 a year to Greenby.
If customers choose to opt out, they will lose access to their Plusnet email account.
It is always a good idea to use a free standalone email provider to avoid the hassle of changing email services if you swap broadband providers in the future.
Last year the company also told The Sun that it will no longer offer home phone services to existing customers once the analogue service is switched off by the end of 2027.
This means that customers who still want a landline in the future will be forced to change to another telephone provider that offers a digital service.
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