Transparency trauma
Nine out of ten consumers find broadband advertising misleading while 98 percent of people believe the ‘up to' speed tag is unhelpful when choosing a broadband provider.
Independent research by ICM commissioned by Virgin Media found broadband speeds are second only to price for consumers when selecting a broadband provider, but 90 percent of people find it tricky to compare different services as they cannot be sure of the speed they will actually receive. The firm questioned 1,000 Brits in July.
A recent report by Ofcom found the average download speed for residential broadband connections remains ‘well below' the speeds that some internet service providers (ISP) continue to advertise.
With many internet service providers advertising speeds of "up to" 20Mb or 24Mb while delivering an average speed of just over 5Mb, almost 70 percent of consumers are frustrated with internet service providers that routinely fail to deliver on their promises.
The report found a massive 93 percent of people believe advertising rules should be changed to stop internet service providers making a speed claim unless it matches the experience of most of their customers.
In a bid to boost transparency, Virgin Media will publish the typical average speeds each month for its 10Mb, 20Mb and 50Mb services at www.virginmedia.com/speedhonesty. The firm said it calculates the typical speeds based on the average speed received by 66 percent of its customers over 24 hours.
The report also highlighted widespread cynicism towards current broadband advertising with over half of people unsurprised when shown the difference between advertised and actual speeds. Furthermore, fewer than 10 percent of people think advertised broadband speeds are accurate.
Jon James, executive director of broadband, at Virgin Media said: "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. A change in advertising is urgently needed to build consumer confidence in super-fast broadband and the industry more generally."
The advertising Standards Authority has recently banned a BT broadband advert on the basis the firm got a bit carried away with its speed claims.
The advertising of broadband is set to be thrown into sharper relief after Ofcom has strengthened the Voluntary Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds to ensure consumers are given clear information about possible line speeds when they buy a package from a provider.
Under the bolstered code consumers whose internet is much slower than expected will be able to terminate the contract with the provider within three months of its start if problems cannot be resolved.
