Broadband Guide

Broadband speed advertising - time for change

Tuesday 29 May, 2012

By Helen Thomas

New guidelines mean broadband providers must advertise connection speeds that at least 10% of their customers are able to achieve.

Advertised broadband speeds vs actual download speeds

Broadband users only get, on average, 47% of their advertised speed, according to research by Ofcom in November 2011.

And although the 7.6Mb national average is more than enough to surf the web and watch BBC iPlayer, the gulf between what is advertised and what consumers actually get leaves many people disappointed.

While headline speeds have been increasing - and despite superfast broadband packages delivering between 90-100% of their advertised speed - broadband satisfaction is at a four-year low, a study by Broadbandchoices.co.uk in March 2011 revealed.

Ofcom code of practice: broadband speeds

Ofcom, the telecoms industry regulator, has a Code of Practice which UK internet service providers (ISPs) adhere to on a voluntary and self-regulatory basis.

A key objective of the Code is to improve the overall standard of broadband speed information given to consumers at the point of sale allowing them to make more informed choices in the broadband market. For several years the gap between the headline speeds advertised by ISPs and the actual speeds received has been growing leaving customers feeling frustrated and misled.

Ofcom encourages ISPs to provide consumers with information on the likely speeds they can expect from their broadband service on their specific line. And critically, Ofcom wants this information to be supplied by ISP’s before customers sign up to a new contract.

The Code also states that consumers with “significantly low” broadband speeds will be able to cancel their contract - without penalty - within three months of signing up.

Changes to broadband speed advertising

Ofcom proposed that ISPs move to advertising a “typical speed” that at least 50% of customers can actually get rather than “up to” speeds that are currently used.

However, despite support from consumer groups, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadband Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) haven’t taken their latest guidelines on broadband advertising to the lengths proposed by Ofcom.

The new CAP/BCAP guidelines came in to force in April 2012, and require ISPs to reduce the headline speeds they advertise to a level that at least 10% of their customers will achieve.

This led to the majority of the major broadband providers lowering their headline speeds, some as much as halving the advertised speed. However, providers have approached the guidelines in different ways with some removing references to broadband speeds entirely creating yet more confusion for the customer.

The guidelines also stated that all qualifications of broadband speeds should be “prominent, appearing in the body copy of marketing communications” rather than hidden away in the small print.

Do the guidelines need to go further?

Ofcom doesn’t believe the new guidelines go far enough, saying: “Consumers are still unable to make an informed choice of which ISP gives them the best internet speeds overall if only 10% of a provider’s customers get the maximum advertised speed.”

It was disappointed that CAP had not recommended the use of a “single, clear and consistent typical speed range.”

Adding: “Our view is that this is the best way to ensure that consumers are able to compare the wide range of packages that are available.”

Ofcom recommends that:

• When advertising broadband packages, providers should use a typical speed range that is actually achieved by at least half of customers
• If a maximum “up to” speed is used in an advert, then the typical speed range must have at least equal prominence
• Any maximum “up to” speed used must also be a speed that can actually be achieved by a material number of customers. When Ofcom carried out the same speed research last year, absolutely no copper wire ADSL customers were getting their advertised speed
• Providers should be clear that they can confirm the expected speed that customers will receive when buying their service
• Where it is the case, suppliers must also explain in the body of the advert that actual speeds depend on line quality and distance from the exchange, for example with ADSL broadband packages
• Any reference to broadband speed in advertising - words such as “fast”, “superfast” or “lightning” - must be accompanied by a typical speed range, which should have at least equal prominence to these words.

Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com), which delivered more of its advertised speeds than any other provider, is unsurprisingly a big supporter of plans to reduce inaccurate broadband speed claims.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: “Consumers continue to be treated like mugs and misled by ISPs that simply cannot deliver on their advertised speed claims.

“Broadband providers have to base their speed claims on the typical real world speeds being delivered to customers so people know exactly what to expect and what they’re paying for.”

An argument for keeping ‘up to’ advertising?

However, BT, which has more than five million broadband customers, has argued against changing the way broadband speeds are advertised, even going as far as claiming that typical speed ranges will actually damage digital inclusion.

John Petter, consumer managing director at BT Retail, said: “Moving to typical speed ranges will potentially be highly misleading as the average performance will vary depending on where people live.”

“Broadband speeds vary from line to line, and so it is meaningless to use one speed for advertising,” continued Petter. “That is why we use the term ‘up to’. The most important thing is that customers are told what speed their line is capable of supporting at the point of sale - this ensures that customers receive what they are promised,” he explained.

And TalkTalk (www.Talktalk.co.uk), the UK’s third largest broadband provider with more than four million customers, agrees. A spokesperson said: “We don’t think average speeds mean much for individual customers; they are concerned with the speed they get and how this can be improved. This is why we give every new customer an estimated speed before they sign up, based on their line, where they live and proximity to their local exchange,” she explained.

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