ASA: Mobile broadband can't be compared to home

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 15 Oct 2008 at 10:59

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has taken T-Mobile to task for claiming mobile broadband offers the same quality of service and speed as fixed-line broadband.

T-Mobile fell foul of the watchdog for advertising its mobile broadband package with the following claim: "Emails to send, blogs to write, games to play, stuff-to buy - and everything else you love doing online - wish you could do these things when you're out and about with friends and family in the UK this summer?

"Broadband on the go for £15 a month... All the benefits of home broadband, on the move. No wires, no waiting, no worries..."

However, a member of the public took issue with the campaign arguing the "ad misleadingly implied mobile broadband was of similar speed and quality to home broadband."

T-Mobile argued the ad was intended to show off all the things you could do with mobile broadband, based on research into its customers' mobile broadband habits, rather than make any suggestions regarding speeds.

The ASA was unimpressed with the argument and upheld the complaint, noting: "we were concerned that activities such as streaming, downloading and online gaming were unlikely to be available to mobile broadband users to the same standard as to fixed-line broadband users."

It ordered T-Mobile to withdraw the ad, and in the future to avoid implying that "mobile broadband was of a comparable standard to fixed line broadband."

The ruling could have quite a significant effect, especially given the ferocity with which mobile broadband providers are currently trying to lure customers away from fixed line services.