Consumer watchdog: ISPs mislead Britons over broadband speeds
Internet service providers (ISPs) in Britain has been slammed by venerable consumer group Which?, which says the advertised broadband speed of “up to” 8Mbps is misleading when in reality customers can only achieved 2.7Mbps average connection speeds.
“It is shocking that internet service providers can advertise ever-increasing speeds that seem to bear little resemblance to what most people can achieve in reality,” Malcolm Coles, Which? editor told the BBC.
A test, which was prompted by complaints from unhappy broadband customers, was conducted by Which? and included 300 broadband customers coming from 27 different ISP providers. The result shows the average download speed was 2.7Mbps, with the maximum only reaching 6.7Mbps and the lowest coming in at under 0.09Mbps.
Which? is calling on telecoms regulator Ofcom and Trading Standards to conduct an investigation into broadband connection speed claims.
Apparently, ISP providers are permitted to use the words “up to” 8Mbps when describing services as long as customers were likely to get close to those speeds. This doesn’ty appear to be the case here.
“If it’s unlikely that you’ll reach the advertised speed it should be made clear up front, so that you know with some certainty what you’re buying,” Coles added.
Ofcom is reportedly monitoring the situation and working closely with the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) to look into possible misleading promotions. Should there be increase in complaints, “we may look at what more can be done”, an Ofcom spokeswoman said.
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August 24th, 2011
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