The way broadband services are marketed will have to change following a judgment by the advertising watchdog yesterday that promising high speeds is unacceptable if a large proportion of customers actually experience slower connections.
With the growth in online video services such as YouTube, social networking sites and music downloading, web users are demanding ever faster broadband connections. Until yesterday's ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority, many ISPs had tried to grab customers with adverts promising speeds "up to" such high levels as 8 megabits per second (Mbps) or even 24 Mbps. Many customers discover that their connections come in slower than these headline figures, either because their home is some distance from a local telephone exchange or the line is old.
The ASA yesterday upheld a complaint by NTL against Bulldog Communications, which had promised customers "up to 8 meg broadband", saying that while "up to" is an acceptable proviso in adverts for 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps services, it is not "an adequate qualifier in ads for higher speed services". Customers who choose a high speed service want it to stream videos and use the web for phone calls or music downloads rather than just surfing. A slower speed than promised has a much higher impact on their enjoyment of the web.
NTL argued that 8 Mbps can only be supplied over traditional phone lines to houses within three kilometres of a telephone exchange. The 35% of people who live more than 3.8km from an exchange, for example, would get at best 5 Mbps. The ASA said the advert was misleading and asked Bulldog to indicate prominently in future ads that top speeds "vary significantly" in particular because of a user's distance from their local exchange.
Pipex, which bought Bulldog from Cable & Wireless this month, said it intends to "fully comply" with the ruling. Others, including BT and Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk, are looking at the ruling and are likely to have to change advertising.
The ruling is good news for NTL. With guaranteed cable delivery to the home, NTL can offer 8 Mbps with little degradation of service and is likely to make much of this in its advertising.
