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Research finds average broadband speeds ‘less than half those advertised’

by Sarah Griffiths on 2 March 2011, 10:25

Tags: Ofcom

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Many broadband customers are being sold super-fast packages while their average download speeds remain less than half of the ‘up to speeds' advertised by some ISPs, according to Ofcom.

The communications watchdog said the problem was particularly acute for the current generation of ADSL services.

According to its research, while the average broadband speed increased from 5.2Mbit/s in May 2010 to 6.2Mbit/s in November/December 2010, it was still less than half of the average advertised broadband speed of 13.8Mbit/s.

Ofcom is currently in the process of submitting its response to the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee for Advertising Practice (BCAP)'s consultation on broadband speed advertising.

It reckons that ISPs' adverts for broadband should be based on a Typical Speeds Range (TSR), "so consumers have a clearer idea of what speeds to expect".

It also suggested that the TSR: "must have at least equal prominence to any maximum ‘up to' speed, and that a maximum speed must be used only if it is actually achievable in practice by a material number of consumers."

Ofcom said a change in the way broadband services are advertised is needed to ensure consumers can compare services effectively.

Advertisers will likely not like Ofcom's suggestion of accompanying any reference to broadband speed being ‘fast', ‘super-fast' or ‘lightning' with a TSR that has ‘at least equal prominence' to the words'.

It also said that advertisers should include a qualification alerting consumers that they can confirm the likely speed that they will receive when buying their service.