Warning over 'super fast' broadband claims

Consumers upgrading to 'super fast' broadband services could be paying as much as £200 extra a year for speeds that are little faster than their old connection.

Thousands of people are being let down by their broadband packages, with Sky and Virgin Media offering new super fast contracts at speeds of 16Mb and 20Mb respectively, but many services are failing to achieve close to the advertised rates, the Times reports.

Faster broadband connections are ideal for consumers who use voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services, or who download games, films or music.

A recent report by consumer group Which? claimed that there is a large gap between the speeds advertised by broadband providers and the speeds that most consumers can get in their own homes.

The study suggested that some broadband companies are claiming to offer speeds of 8Mbps (megabits per second) and faster, when customers achieve average speeds of just 2.7Mbps, with some reporting speeds as low as 0.09Mbps on supposed super fast connections.

Guidelines from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) state that broadband companies may use the phrase "speeds up to" in ads as long as most customers are able to achieve close to the speeds advertised.

Posted on: 2007-08-14, in: Broadband

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