MSE News: Broadband speed advertising code 'disappointing'

LesU

There seems to be two sets of people involved in the dissatisfied customer bracket. Every time I have looked at switching or have switched providers I have entered my postcode and my telephone number and the expected speed of my connection has been shown to me before I signed up. So, although I may have been attracted by an 'up to 8Mb' advert, at no time was I told that I would receive 8Mb. In fact the last speed estimate I was given was slightly lower than the rate I can actually get.

Now, if I was promised a rate, and I didn't get anything like that rate, then I would complain. Which set of dissatisfied customers are these new rules supposed to be addressing?

Arg

Broadband providers need harsher treatment. They've oversold and misadvertised then they've sneakily clawed back as much as they could get away with whether it's throttling connections or general slowness and yet they're allowed to continue like this.

Consumerist

MSE_Guy wrote: »

"Broadband providers have been told to only advertise 'up to' speeds if at least 10% of users can can get that performance ..."

The problem with this sort of "regulation" is that it is not verifiable by customers. So there is no way for a customer to establish whether an ISP is complying - we have to rely on statistics provided by the ISPs themselves.

I don't see how this regulation is even enforceable.

kwikbreaks

Ignoring 3G where the upto is just an advertising execs wet dream to my mind the "unlimited" claims are a real issue whereas the upto claims are pretty much a non-issue.

The main home broadband technologies are cable and ADSL or if you are lucky VDSL.

With cable your maximum speed will be pretty much what you are sold.

On phone line delivered broadband you'll get one of two options upto8 ADSL and upto20 (or upto24) ADSL2+ and what you actually get is pretty much fixed by the phone line which will be the same one with all ISPs. On long lines upto24 delivers virtually the same as upto8 anyway.

With VDSL (branded as Infinity by BT) you get 15-40Mbps and that too depends on your phone line length but only to the cabinet rather than the exchange.

If the public had any grasp at all of technology just selling phone line based products as ADSL ADSL2+ or VDSL would be enough because the maximum speed is pretty much independent of provider.

Of course what speeds you can actually achieve are an entirely different matter - if the ISP is a cram 'em on and sell it cheap (or with some still not cheap) provider then your maximum speed will only be achieved at silly o'clock and any time you might want to use your connection during peak hours it will crawl. Nobody is going to advertise cheap slow broadband any more than detergent sellers will push their inability to remove stains so the only way to decide on your ISP is by researching what others say about them. Sadly most seem to just choose on price and then moan because they get low speeds and rubbish support.

Although most cable users will get close to their advertised speeds most of the time many moan when their usage exceeds the published limits and their speed gets temporarily capped. You can also be unlucky on cable if your near neighbours are heavy downloaders or VM sales got lucky and signed up lots of new customers in your area because either will really spoil your experience and VM seem to take an age to sort this sort of problem out.

MrsBartolozzi

The Cap guidance states 'unlimited' can only be used if "the user incurs no additional charge or suspension of service as a consequence of exceeding a usage threshold".

While this is a step in the right direction I would have liked some quantifiable clarity on an individual ISP's policy on throttling of broadband speed when a high usage amount has been reached as this is not covered in "suspension of service" as it's not really suspended, just made so slow as to frustrate and in some cases may as well be suspended.


I'd also have liked to see a requirement for proper numbers to be assigned to "at busy periods speeds will be capped" and for ISPs to have a maximum number of hours in which they throttle speeds in a period: per day, week, month etc. If they go over this it's not just busy periods it's an inability to provide for all their customers whose money they are happy to take and they should be made to upgrade systems if that is what is required to provide a consistant service.

JC_Derby

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

The Cap guidance states 'unlimited' can only be used if "the user incurs no additional charge or suspension of service as a consequence of exceeding a usage threshold".

While this is a step in the right direction I would have liked some quantifiable clarity on an individual ISP's policy on throttling of broadband speed when a high usage amount has been reached as this is not covered in "suspension of service" as it's not really suspended, just made so slow as to frustrate and in some cases may as well be suspended.

isnt any throttling of an unlimited service a suspension as you are no longer receiving its unlimited service. Probably wouldnt be seen that way, but it damn well should be.

Dave_C_2

If I had my way then it would be a self solving problem.

1) ISP advertises an 8M service for say £8 per month
2) You get 8M or above you pay the full £8
3) Otherwise you pay pro rata. For 1M speed you would only pay £1 per month, 2M £2 and so on.

This would then lead to accurate estimates of speed and cheaper broadband for us in the sticks on slow lines.

If only... Dave

owly1

Where are the teeth ! Another opportunity missed to clean up this industry - a shocking example of how nobody cares about the consumer.
What if these measures were applied to other services: E.g. Water company: "10% of our customers can effectively flush the toilet [therefore the amount of water is fine]"
Gas Company : gas supply is unlimited [once you pay for it] but beware using too much gas on Sundays [because we get a bit short] if you use too much we will lower your gas pressure meaning Sunday lunch = Sunday supper by time its cooked
Electricity Company : "Well 240 volts is more of a guideline - we actually put "upto 240V" but if you can’t get the full lot it just means your lights are dim - but we blame the pylons in your area!

We just would not accept such service in other sectors so why do legislators and governments have no teeth when we enter anything relating to modern electronic communications - is it because they don’t understand or just don’t want to.

I believe all ISPs, following line survey, should commit to a guaranteed min speed and be completely clear on their limits / procedures by law.
Software controls should confirm exactly what was supplied and when and payment must be pro rata for service quality supplied.
So if your line can only do 2Mb and thats what you get then thats what you pay for!

Fantasy speed claims that a few customers might get [but nobody can verify and 90% cannot get] should be a trade descriptions violation.

Letter to MP !