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ISPs have been advertising so-called 8Mbps broadband since the spring, when BT turned on its ADSL Max service. However, there has been widespread consumer dismay at connection speeds, with many people complaining on internet messageboards (such as www.ispreview.co.uk) that actual speeds are little or no better than the previous 2Mbps service. Indeed, the 35% of the population that live more than 3.8km from their telephone exchange cannot possibly achieve speeds greater than 5Mbps.

The ruling comes following a complaint against Bulldog Communications, made by cable rival NTL. The ASA agreed that advertising services of up to 8Mbps was misleading because 'a significant proportion

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of consumers could not achieve speeds close to the headline speed.' The ASA has ruled that future adverts must indicate prominently that 'top speeds varied significantly, in particular because of a user's distance from their local exchange.'

An ASA spokesperson told PC Pro that it has written to all broadband suppliers to advise them of the changes and that they will have to amend their advertising accordingly. 'There can be such a discernible difference between 5Mbps and 8Mbps and it can limit what you can do on your PC. The [broadband] speeds you are getting are down to factors outside of your control. That needs to be made clear from the outset,' said the ASA spokesperson. Video streaming, file sharing and online gaming are among the activities that could be affected when speeds fell below the promised level, according to the ASA.

BT, however, claims that it is currently in the dark over the ruling. A company spokesperson told PC Pro that it wasn't aware of any communication from the ASA at the time of writing, but claimed: 'our view is the wording [of the adjudication] by the ASA could have implications, but it is too vague for us to comment.' A spokesperson for Pipex, which recently bought out the Bulldog, said: 'Pipex are fully compliant with ASA rulings across all of its brands.'