Are broadband ads a ‘complete and utter joke’?

On Wednesday last week, culture minister Ed Vaizey MP told a House of Commons Committee that he thought the current rules on broadband advertising were ‘a complete and utter joke’. Here’s what he said:

‘It’s ridiculous. The idea that if you can deliver to 10% of houses the broadband speeds you are advertising on a large billboard and get away with it seems to be a complete and utter joke, and I have told that to [the ASA’s] face.’

Ed Vaizey didn’t stop there. He continued:

‘It is good to have independent regulators. But I also feel as a politician and minister in this space I want to have the opportunity to express my frustrations. I am frustrated.

‘The way broadband speeds are advertised are misleading and I’d like to see them changed. I’ve made my views clear and the ASA will be aware of my concerns.’

Broadband providers are failing

And then there was Grant Shapps MP, who on Friday spoke on Radio 4’s Today programme. He too criticised broadband providers and the Advertising Standards Authority for failing to act on misleading broadband adverts, saying:

‘Internet service providers are failing to provide anything like the speeds they are advertising. Rather than one in ten, it should be nine in ten people receive the speeds. You should be able to leave the contract and if we can’t get the internet service providers, or indeed the regulators, to do that, then parliament will need to act.’

A spokesman for the ASA said in response to Grant Shapps:

‘Our position on broadband speed claims in ads is based on extensive work undertaken in recent years, including a full public consultation on new guidance. We are an independent, evidence-based regulator and that underpins our regulation.

‘We are, however, aware of concerns about this issue and we are carefully considering if there is further work we can do on the matter.’

Here at Which?, we think that Ed and Grant are right. And more than 100,000 people back us. We’re calling for the ASA to change its 10% rule – broadband ads should show the speeds the majority of their customers will get. Not just 10% of them. And we also want it to be quicker and easier for customers to get compensation if they don’t get the speeds they’re promised.

Moving forwards

We’ve had some wins on this already, with Virgin Media and SSE both backing our campaign. And then Ofcom launched a Broadband Code of Conduct here at Which? UK, which included a right for you to exit your broadband contract without penalty if you don’t get what you were promised when signed up. Ofcom is also consulting on automatic compensation for telecoms customers.

But we know there’s more to do, so it’s great to hear MPs so strongly backing what we’ve been saying over the years. What do you think? Do you agree with Ed and Grant?

I’d also love to see what percentage of customers you think should be achieving a headline speeds before a broadband provider can then advertise that speed. Please vote for what you think’s reasonable in the poll below.

 Loading ...