By Shazia Mowlabaccus
As broadband speeds rise, ISP deals offering up to 16Mbps continue to tempt large numbers of customers. However, the reality is that speeds actually delivered to homes often massively differ to those advertised, with many not even reaching half of that offered. The average download speed in the UK is 3.2Mbps, with the fastest city for broadband downloads being Edinburgh with 4.41 Mbps, still a far cry from 16 Mbps.
Other types of products in other sectors could never get away with differing so widely from what is advertised, and consumers rightly would not stand for it. So why do ISPs think they can get away with this?
One reason is that the majority of consumers aren’t particularly tech-savvy and often don’t realise they aren’t receiving the performance they’re paying for. Many ISPs rely on the fact that customers find their services too difficult to understand and consequently don’t bother trying. By taking advantage of this, ISPs reveal the contemptuous attitude they have towards their customers.
This has led Ofcom to publish a ‘broadband speed code’, which will require ISPs to give more accurate information about the real speed of their broadband services when selling directly. But at the moment, this still remains voluntary. However, those who do not sign up risk losing customer trust even further.
The problem is that this code still doesn’t cover the advertising or labeling of broadband services, and hence allows ISPs to continue to mislead consumers. Ofcom needs to also enforce regulations on how these services are advertised, while consumers need to stand up to ISPs trying to intimidate them with technical jargon. It’s really not as difficult to understand as many think, and making an effort to understand the reality of broadband services is key to not getting fobbed off with poor and mis-sold services.
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