Comment: When will Ofcom sort out broadband speeds?

 

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Posted on 2 Aug 2007 at 10:04

Another day, another damning broadband survey. This time consumer watchdog Which? is highlighting the slumping speeds in broadband Britain.

Which? tested 300 consumer internet connections, which were promised speeds of up to 8Mb/sec. It found the average speed to be just 2.7Mb/sec, with the slowest connection crawling along at less than 0.09Mb/sec.

The highest actual speed it could find was 6.7Mb/sec, more than 15% slower than the headline speed the ISPs love to bandy around.

Of course, we know that 8Mb/sec speed is a pie in the sky theoretical maximum. In this month's PC Pro podcast BT Wholesale's Angus Flett candidly admits that "no-one gets that speed" because the speed starts dropping off as soon as the line leaves the exchange. So why are the ISPs allowed to continue peddling this myth? And why doesn't Ofcom care about the pathetic connection speeds surveys keep reporting?

A recent Moneysupermarket.com survey echoed the Which? findings - it claimed that only around a fifth of customers get close to the speed they pay for.

Yet when we asked Ofcom to explain why so few people received top speeds for this month's Great Broadband Con feature (in the magazine on sale now) it effectively shrugged its shoulders.

"Is there an issue as to the kind of speeds you typically have access to? That's a good question, that's one for the industry to look at," the Ofcom spokesman claimed, passing the buck with deplorable swiftness.

"Are we considering any major policy review of this at the moment? The answer is no," he added. "It isn't something that's on our radar as an urgent issue where consumers are being harmed."

I politely suggest Ofcom gets its radar fixed. Survey after survey after survey reveals that broadband speeds are suffering, that consumer satisfaction is declining, that broadband is becoming a national joke. Yet the telecoms regulator continues to stick its fingers in its ears and hope this issue will go away.

Even today, with Which? demanding a fresh inquiry into broadband, Ofcom tells the BBC. "If we get increasing complaints we may look at what more can be done."

Stop looking, start acting. Britain's broadband service is crumbling and it's happening on your watch.

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Author: Barry Collins