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Virgin to publish typical speeds in broadband ads battle

By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 2 Sep 2010 at 09:59

Virgin Media will publish typical speeds for its broadband speeds each month, turning up the heat in the war of words on how such services are advertised.

The news comes as ISPs and Ofcom wrangle over how broadband should be advertised, with Ofcom recently criticising the discrepancy between headline speeds and actual rates.

Virgin backed its announcement with research that claimed nine out of ten consumers found current broadband advertising, usually based on “up to” speeds, misleading.

People are paying for faster and faster broadband but being ripped off by unscrupulous providers

According to the research, conducted with 1,000 respondents by research firm ICM, speed is the second most important factor behind price when consumers make a choice over broadband supplier, but more than half of respondents weren't even surprised when actual speeds left them disappointed.

According to Virgin, “there is an overwhelming appetite for a change with 93% of respondents agreeing that advertising rules should be changed to prevent ISPs making a speed claim unless it matches the typical 'real world' experience of a clear majority of customers."

Virgin Media told PC Pro that the campaign was intended to build confidence in superfast broadband as a product. While more than 40% of people surveyed would pay more for a faster service, only 9% of people think advertised broadband speeds tend to be accurate, the survey showed.

“People are paying for faster and faster broadband but being ripped off by unscrupulous providers who can’t deliver their promised speeds to even a single customer,” Virgin Media executive director of broadband Jon James said. “A change in advertising is urgently needed to build consumer confidence in super-fast broadband and the industry more generally.”

The announcement comes after Ofcom called for the way broadband speeds are advertised to be overhauled and a review by the Advertising Standards Authority.

“The average download speed received for ‘up to’ 20/24Mbits/sec DSL packages was 6.5Mbits/sec, while for ‘up to’ 8/10Mbits/sec DSL services it was 3.3Mbits/sec," according to Ofcom research published in July this year. "For ‘up to’ 20Mbits/sec cable services the average download speed received was 15.7Mbits/sec, and for ‘up to’ 10Mbits/sec cable services it was 8.7Mbits/sec.”

Some surfers still suffer slower speeds

However, as always, the devil is in the detail and Virgin Media defines the typical speed as the average speed received by 66% of customers over 24 hours.

A spokesperson told PC Pro that the company, which uses independent broadband monitor SamKnows to rate speeds on it network, drilled down to the 66th quartile of its testing panel to ensure that the typical speed related to the majority of users.

Although that means two thirds of customers would receive the quoted average or faster, one in three customers will still see speeds that are slower than the average.

The company also admits that: “Our typical speed tests run over 24 hours and speeds may vary at peak times.”

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User comments

I can't complain, as i'm with Virgin

I seem to be one of the lucky few that actully get the advertised speed.
I'm with Virgin and their 50Mbps package and when downloading large files or testing the connection speed, i do get the 50Mbps. On the odd occasion i've gotten a slighty higher speed!

By Greendot on 2 Sep 2010

Ignorance

Virgin are just trying to cash in on the ignorance surrounding ADSL. The speed you get varies on many factors including how far away from the exchange you are and the quality of the wiring in between. How are you supposed to quantify that? The only solution I can think of is a standard set of tests like those used to measure fuel consumption in cars. So, like "48mpg at a steady 56mph" we could have "average 4.2Mbps at 1 mile from the exchange".

As Virgin uses a fibre-based ethernet system they don't suffer from these variable factors.

By Stiggy on 2 Sep 2010

Not ignorance, merely a sensible approach

I disagree: Virgin are highlighting the difference between the cable & ADSL - cable is consistently much faster unless you're an ADSL user right next to the exchange.

I'm a mostly content Virgin user - I get the (MBits/sec on my 10MBits/sec service most of the time, though the speed does drop like a stone occasionally in the evening if you use it heavily. Traffic Management - bah!

By dev_IanT on 2 Sep 2010

i think i made the right choice.

IV been with virgin for a few years and rearly had any problems I started with the 10mb and worked my way to 50mb I love it and notice the difference between each step up. I did have a problem with the 50mb when we moved as it felt we were only getting 30mb when we called they sent an engineer out to have a look but he said that with us having alot of equipment using the internet that was the problem. I did not beloved this to be the case so o called again and this time got a result and boosted our signal and after a few tests on an speed test web site we get our 50mb well 44-53mb if it wasn't for virgin broadband being really good and reliable I would of went with a different competitors.

By Darlington_Si on 2 Sep 2010

Long term

I've been with Virgin for 12 years now.They perform....Nuff said !

By Jaberwocky on 2 Sep 2010

Pretty good these days

Way back in the early BB days the service was terrible, at one point they refused to send out engineers on a weekend.

That was several years ago (I think I was on 256K in those days) and in recent years I've had absolutely no trouble at all. I'm only on a 10MB connection, but, as other have said, I do occasionally get a little more than that.

It's not just about speed, it's also customer service, get them both right and people will flock to you... well, those who can.

At the moment, I'm happy, and have been for a while.

By StuartN on 2 Sep 2010

And will Virgin also let you know that they'll cripple your download speed if you download more than they deem reasonable.

By steven_h1 on 2 Sep 2010

@steven_h1

Yes they do. Read their Traffic Management policy.

By chapelgarth on 2 Sep 2010

Virgin vs ADSL

@steven_h1: Well I'd prefer that than to either pay an excess charge or be cut off altogether. But the flexibility to do a big iPlayer download on one evening would be nice.

Virgin's speed is as advertised for big downloads from sufficiently fast servers, but I noticed very little difference between 4Mb and 10Mb for general web browsing. I therefore wonder just how much better in practice a 10Mb Virgin connection is than an average "up to 8Mb" ADSL connection (running at about 4Mb) for general web usage.

Also do seem to get an awful lot of pauses on Virgin while it tries to resolve host names!

By halsteadk on 2 Sep 2010

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