Misleading internet ads affect resellers too

It is time for ISPs to stop misleading their customers about broadband speeds and making VARs carry the can, says Keith Warburton

Warburton: Broadband needs to develop a more mature approach to advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority demand that BT stop running a misleading TV advert on broadband speeds is well and good, but BT is not alone – such claims are endemic in the market.

Ofcom has recently noted that virtually all ISPs are guilty of misleading customers about the real speed of their broadband service. Average actual download speeds are reportedly a mere 58 per cent of the average ‘up to’ speeds claimed by ISPs.

In its report, Ofcom tacitly admits that information provided to customers did not make clear what sorts of speed they could actually expect.

Ofcom’s data indicates that a DSL package advertised as giving speeds of up to eight or 10 Mbit/s is typically reaching just 3.3 Mbit/s. Connections claimed to provide 20-24 Mbit/s are providing just 6.5 Mbits/s.

The data also clearly shows that while the service provided by cable operators such as Sky, Talk Talk and Virgin is consistently faster than that provided over phone lines, they also are not generally delivering their claimed maximum speeds.

It seems to me that consumers are being knowingly misled by ISPs, it’s as simple as that.

Motor manufacturers wouldn’t get away with making exaggerated claims for cars’ actual top speeds. A lot of cars can do 155mph -- but one of the reasons it is only in the small print in adverts is because it virtually impossible to achieve such speeds in normal use.

Instead, car manufacturers lead on quality, service, cost of running and reliability. It’s about time ISPs were brave enough, and grown up enough, to lead on their actual qualities and benefits, rather than theoretical ones. Perhaps the reason they don’t is because they have too many complaints from disappointed customers.

Instead of using theoretical speeds that could only be achieved if you actually live inside the telephone exchange, ISPs should be forced to use an area-specific Typical Speed Range (TSR) in adverts. They could then charge customers on a sliding scale that takes into account not just usage, but performance.

Many TCA members, installers and retailers of information technology spend a great deal of their time explaining the problems, mostly copper-wire issues, to customers who, misled by advertising, believe their hardware is faulty.

It is time ISPs came clean. Frankly, it is time for the broadband market to grow up.

Keith Warburton is president of the Technology Channels Association (TCA)