Ofcom is “strongly urging” Internet service providers (ISPs) to sign up to a new Code of Practice in a bid to stop them misleading broadband customers over download speeds.
For years now, ISPs have been advertising headline speeds that are well above what the average customer will actually achieve when they sign up.
A recent survey from broadbandexpert found that broadband speeds were actually 48% of those advertised, with the figure dropping to just 26% for higher speed packages offering connections of 8Mb or more.
Time to change their tune
“Ofcom is concerned that consumers could be misled or misinformed when choosing their broadband services by ISPs advertising headline speeds that are higher than users can receive in practice,” the regulator said in a release.
As a result, it is urging ISPs to sign up to its Code in order to ensure customers are treated fairly and given accurate information.
Steps that fixed-line ISPs are required to take under the voluntary Code include:
• providing customers at the point of sale with an accurate estimate of the maximum speed that the line can support, whether it is in the shop, over the internet or on the phone;
• resolving technical issues to improve speed and offering customers the choice to move onto a lower speed package when estimates given are inaccurate;
• ensuring all sales and promotion staff have a proper understanding of the products they are selling so they can explain to their customers the meaning of the estimates provided at the point of sale; and
• providing consumers with information on usage limits and alerting customers when they have breached them.
Most have signed up already
Some 32 ISPs have signed up to date, covering over 90% of UK broadband customers (for a full list, scroll down to the end of the article).
The regulator says it is also undertaking a thorough speed survey to “identify actual broadband performance across the country and its relationship to advertised headline speeds”.
It’s a start
Of course, Ofcom isn’t actually forcing the ISPs to do anything - it is merely voicing its concerns and asking them to behave.
You may be wondering why it has taken so long for the regulator to sit up and take notice of this issue. After all, by promising super fast broadband and then delivering something completely different, are ISPs not blatantly lying?
Achievable… but unlikely
Well, no. You see, those advertised speeds are theoretically achievable.
How? Simply move your home extremely close to the telephone exchange, choose an ISP that has shelled out loads of money on a high capacity network but has only taken on a low number of customers, have an excellent quality line… oh, and ensure very few people are accessing the same websites as you.
Do all of this and you may actually achieve the super fast speeds you’re paying for (well, for a little while at least - UK broadband speeds slow down to almost half their average speed between 19.00 and 21.00 hours every evening, due to heavy traffic).
Need to be more honest
So while they aren’t technically lying in their adverts (most ISPs are careful to insert the phrase “up to” just before to their promised speeds), the vast majority of customers are never going to get those headline speeds.
Clearly the regulator had to do something, and only time will tell whether the Code of Practice is successful in rectifying the problem.
With 90% of the market already signed up, we’re certainly off to a good start. Unfortunately, even if they do adhere to the rules it will mean nothing to the millions of households already locked into contracts that promised more than they delivered.
ISPs already signed up to the code:
AOL Broadband, BT Total Broadband, Eclipse Internet, Exa Networks, Firefly Internet, Freedom2Surf, Greenbee Broadband, Karoo, MacAce.net, Madasafish, Netplan Internet Solutions Ltd, Nildram,O2, Orange Home, Pipex, Playlouder.com, PlusNet Broadband, Polestar Interactive Ltd, Pro-Net Internet Services Ltd, Sky, Solutios, Surf Anytime, TalkTalk, Tiscali, Toucan, UK Online, Virgin Media, Waitrose Broadband, Zen Internet
