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Ofcom sets some broadband prisoners free

By Barry Collins

Posted on 27 Jul 2010 at 00:00

New Ofcom rules will allow broadband customers to break their contract if they don't get the speeds promised by their ISP - but only in the very worst of cases.

The telecoms regulator is revising its voluntary code of practice for broadband providers, with new measures to help customers who find themselves trapped in long contracts with under-performing ISPs.

Broadband providers will be obliged to give customers more accurate line speed estimates at the point of sale. The ISPs will give new customers a range of expected speeds, under a breathtakingly complex new formula devised by Ofcom.

Ofcom has created an even more complex code, which is less accessible to the average user

ISPs will provide an estimate that ranges from the speed 20% of customers can expect to receive at that distance from the telephone exchange, to what 80% of customers could expect to receive. For example, customers who live 2KM from their local exchange could expect speeds of between 4.5Mbits/sec and 11.5Mbits/sec on an ADSL2+ service.

However, only customers who receive actual speeds in the bottom decile - the lowest 10% of expected speeds - can demand to leave their ISP.

Ofcom admits there's no way for customers to work out what that exit-clause speed is by themselves, because the bottom 10% of speeds will vary between ISPs.

"The ISP must tell the customer their minimum guaranteed access line speed and explain that if the technical fault cannot be fixed, then the customer will have the opportunity to leave their contract immediately and without any penalty provided this is within a three month period of the start of their contract, or longer (if the ISP so chooses)," Ofcom's code of conduct states.

Too complex

Industry watchers have attacked the new regulations for being too complex. "Whilst we support Ofcom's efforts to ensure broadband providers are more open with consumers about what they should expect from their broadband connection, we feel that Ofcom have missed an opportunity to redraft the code itself in a format which consumers could better understand," said

"Instead of providing additional guidance notes which would assist providers in interpreting the code, Ofcom has created an even more complex code, which is less accessible to the average user."

Worse still for consumers, the new code of conduct won't come into effect for up to a year, while ISPs retrain their staff and update their systems.

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User comments

Pointless

As the customer cannot know what this 'exit speed' is and they have 3 months to find it's not fixable - the ISP basically can decide if they want to allow a customer to leave without penalty.

Even if the customer could find out their mythical 'bottom 10%' speed, many ISPs may take longer than three months to send out on engineer anyway.
OK, I exaggerate, perhaps - but even so, three months is still not enough for many ISPs to fully investigate a faulty line.

By greemble on 27 Jul 2010

Huh?

I'm not sure what you're saying greemble. Are you saying it should be longer than 3 months because "three months is still not enough for many ISPs to fully investigate a faulty line"? So the customer has to suffer because the ISP is understaffed? How long do you think a line fault should take to be fixed?

Sorry but you've lost me.

JH

By JohnHo1 on 27 Jul 2010

Keep it simple

I don't understand this formula - isn't it possible that 10% of what customers expect to receive be faster than what 80% expect to receive?
The exit speed should be a percentage of the advertised speed.

By nabster on 27 Jul 2010

Huh?

By JohnHo1 on 27 Jul 2010

oops

Dunno how I managed to post twice. Apologies.

JH

By JohnHo1 on 27 Jul 2010

Re: Huh?

I don't think Greemble is suggesting the customer should be forced to stay longer than three months. Just that the 3 month cut-off seems to work more in the ISP's favour than the Customer's. It might take a month after installation for the customer to raise a complaint. Then a few weeks to send out an engineer. Then another couple of weeks for a second visit. By which time, your 3 months is up. It wouldn't take much for an ISP to arrange for the engineering "procedures" to take, say, 10 weeks making it damn-near impossible for the customer to get to the stage where they can quit within 3 months. Who is the 3 month limit supposed to help?

By Bassey1976 on 27 Jul 2010

3 months

Why is there an assumption that it all has to be done and dusted within 3 months of start of contract? If I buy faulty goods and I claim on the guarantee on the last day, then I have a valid claim and it has to be resolved. How long it takes is irrelevant. It's true that an ISP could string a fault out but why is there an assumption that this would let them off the hook?

JH

By JohnHo1 on 27 Jul 2010

What if the service deteriorates?

This scheme doesn't seem to provide for the possibility of things being OK during the first 3 months and then deteriorating later.
Also, if they don't publish their 10 percentile figure -how can you prove that your service is below par?

By milliganp on 27 Jul 2010

Yes, I agree

Good point m and I agree it should be a simple matter of "get less than x% of headline speed and you have the right to move". Dare I say typical civil servant, make it complicated.

JH

By JohnHo1 on 27 Jul 2010

@JohnHo1

Bassey's got my meaning precisely and milliganp adds to it, while summing up the exit speed BS nicely.

There should be no time limit to leaving any under-performing ISP - Defined as the actual connection speed consistently staying above at least 75% of the initial estimate

Although this is too simple and would force the ISPs to look after their customers more carefully, so no way would Ofcom bring that in

By greemble on 27 Jul 2010

@greemble

G, sorry if I missed the point but I'll certainly sign up to what you've proposed above. You'll never be a successful bureaucrat though, keeping it nice 'n simple like that :-)

JH

By JohnHo1 on 27 Jul 2010

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