Ofcom wants to ban misleading broadband speed ads

Ofcom is seeking to stop internet service providers from advertising unrealistic broadband speeds.Currently most ISPs advertise services as ‘up to’ a certain speed – for instance, 20Mbps (megabits per second).But Ofcom’s latest research finds that very few consumers actually get these headline speeds.”There is a substantial gap between advertised speeds and the actual speeds people get in their homes,” Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told the BBC.To read this BBC News report in full, see:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12611315Also see:ISPs must advertise average broadband speeds, not ‘up to’ speeds, says Ofcom
ISPs should be forced to advertise the typical speeds available on internet access packages and not the theoretical maximum currently advertised, telecoms regulator Ofcom has said. They should also not be allowed to cap ‘unlimited’ services.Advertising regulators should change the rules so that the speeds available to customers in the middle of the range of actual available speeds is advertised at least as prominently as ‘up to’ speeds, it has said.
out-law.com/page-11803Average broadband speed is still less than half advertised speed [Ofcom news release]
Average download speeds remain less than half of ‘up to’ speeds advertised by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs), particularly for current generation copper-based ADSL services, new Ofcom research reveals.The research shows that the average broadband speed increased from 5.2Mbit/s (May 2010) to 6.2Mbit/s (November/December 2010)* but was less than half (45 per cent) of the average advertised broadband speed of 13.8Mbit/s.The findings come as Ofcom submits its response to the current Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee for Advertising Practice (BCAP) consultation on broadband speeds advertising.Ofcom is recommending that if speeds are used in broadband advertising they should be based on a Typical Speeds Range (TSR), so consumers have a clearer idea of what speeds to expect. Ofcom also recommends that the TSR must have at least equal prominence to any maximum ‘up to’ speed, and that a maximum speed must be used only if it is actually achievable in practice by a material number of consumers. Ofcom is also setting out what the TSR might be for each technology used to provide fixed-line broadband.To read this Ofcom news release in full, see:
media.ofcom.org.uk/2011/03/02/average-broadband-speed-is-still-less-than-half-advertised-speed/