Broadband speeds code one year old
05 December 2009
It may have escaped your notice (!) that the Ofcom-promoted voluntary code on broadband speeds is exactly one year old day.
Many consumers have been frustrated by advertisements promising them "up to X Mbps", since many customers have no chance of receiving anything like this speed, principally because they live too far from the exchange or too many other broadband users share the line. The variation between the headline speed and and the average speed can be dramatic and, at different times, the difference between the average speed and the actual speed can be significant.
Several measures need to be taken. First, the Advertising Standards Authority needs to reconsider how broadband speeds are advertised so that customer expectations are closer to actual experience of the service. Second, Ofcom needs to review the effectiveness of the voluntary code of practice one year after its implementation. Third, Ofcom should commission a further round of research on the actual broadband speeds obtained by consumers from various technologies and ISPs.