Tiscali complaints upheld

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld three complaints about the internet service provider (ISP) Tiscali.

In the first upheld complaint, rival ISP TalkTalk complained to the ASA that an advert in the press which claimed that a Tiscali deal offered "up to 8Mb broadband" was misleading.

It argued that most customers would not see speeds of 8Mb and the qualifying text "Top speeds vary significantly..." was not prominent enough.

In its adjudication, the ASA said the advert would have been acceptable "if the qualification 'Top speeds vary significantly'... had appeared in the body copy instead of the small print".

"However, because the qualification had not appeared in the body copy... we considered it was insufficiently prominent and the claim 'up to 8 Mb Broadband'... was therefore misleading."

Tiscali is now displaying the qualification in the body of the advert.

In addition to the three complaints that were upheld, two were not.

Apple has also just fallen foul of the ASA because of advertised internet speeds.

An advert for its iPhone 3G showed web pages downloading in about a second, which the ASA felt did not mirror its actual speeds.

Posted on: 2008-12-03, in: Broadband

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