Ofcom Panel demands action on broadband speeds

 

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Posted on 18 Dec 2007 at 18:31

ISPs should adhere to a mandatory code of practice to prevent customers from being misled over broadband speeds, according to Ofcom's Consumer Panel.

The Consumer Panel wrote to the six leading ISPs earlier this year, asking them to explain why customers weren't receiving the broadband speeds they pay for. The Panel was particularly vexed by the use of the phrase "up to", when describing the speed of connections.

Following meetings with five of those providers, the Consumer Panel has asked Ofcom to implement a code of practice that will demand ISPs:

• Inform customers of the maximum speed available on their line during the sales process
• Provide clear information about factors that can harm line speeds
• Contact customers a fortnight after installation to inform them of their actual line speed
• Move customers to a different package, or even free them for their contract, if actual line speeds "are significantly lower than the package they bought"

The Consumer Panel says the ISPs were taken aback by the strength of consumer dissatisfaction with broadband speeds. "They were concerned that we were concerned," Colette Bowe, chairman of the Consumer Panel told PC Pro. "In several of the meetings, I had to point out the type of response that had been triggered by radio interviews on this, where the BBC messageboards sprang into life with people expressing strong concern about the issues."

The Panel has also called upon the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to review the way broadband speeds are advertised. "My problem is the prominence given to the 8 meg in the typical headline and the very difficult to read caveats around that, that you get right down the bottom of the page.

"I understand the points about 'up to' and why it's very difficult to be more precise," she adds. "But the relative prominence of the attractive offer, and then the much less-attractive caveats that might mean you can't get the offer, is really the issue. It's the way in which it's done."

The Consumer Panel - which is independent of the regulator itself - can't force Ofcom to abide by its recommendations. Indeed, when PC Pro challenged Ofcom on broadband speeds earlier this year, the regulator told us "it isn't something that's on our radar as an urgent issue where consumers are being harmed."

Bowe says that attitudes are now changing at the regulator. "If you said that to Ofcom again today, you might get a different response," she claims. "I'd be surprised if Ofcom didn't do something in response to this call from me."

Author: Barry Collins