Advertising vs Reality

Case study Diaspora: Broadband speed gap widens

The gulf between the download speeds advertised by broadband operators and the actual service they provide to consumers is wider than ever, Ofcom research has found.

The average advertised speed of 15 Mbps is now more 220 per cent of the national average actual speed, 6.8Mbps, the communications regulator said today as it announced the results of its twice-yearly broadband study. In rural areas the shortfall is even greater.

Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, called on the advertising industry to address the issue, which has been a source of concern for consumer group for several years.

“The research is still telling us that some consumers are not receiving anywhere near the speeds that are being advertised by some ISPs,” he said.

The Advertising Standards Authority announced a review of broadband advertising a year which in turn prompted a consultation on changes to the rules in January. No action has yet been taken, however.

“Ofcom continues to urge the [ASA] committees to make changes to their advertising guidance so that consumers are able to make more informed decisions based on the adverts they see,” said Mr Richards.

The widening gap between marketing and reality has emerged despite BT’s introduction of its “Infinity” packages in recent months. They are based on new fibre optic cables, which unlike old copper cables do not significantly weaken broadband signals over distance, and so deliver closer to the theoretical maximum speeds operators choose to highlight in their advertising.

Ofcom’s researchers found that Infinity packages, marketed as “up to 40Mbps”, deliver between 33 and 35Mbps on average. In contrast, BT’s standard broadband packages, based on copper cables and advertised as “up to 8Mbps”, deliver little over half that on average.

Packages advertised as “up to 24Mbps” fall the furthest short, in reality providing just 6.6Mbps on average, and less in rural regions, where distances between homes and local exchanges are likely to be greater.

Jon James, executive director of broadband for Virgin Media, which Ofcom found delivers the fastest broadband thanks to its own fibre optic cable network, joined in calls for the ASA to act.

“We remain concerned that people paying for fast broadband are still being misled and believe it is absolutely essential that consumers have all the information they need to make an informed choice,” he said.

“We once again urge the ASA to bring about a rapid change in the way broadband services are being advertised.”

In another attempt to increase transparency in the sector, Ofcom is today introducing changes to its voluntary code of practice, which calls on broadband providers to give potential customers an estimate of the actual speed range they can expect before they sign a contract.

If, once installed, the line is significantly slower, customers will be able to cancel the contract within three months without penalties. All Britain’s major providers, including BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media are signatories to the code of practice