Stop the Broadband Con campaign 'a good first step'

Virgin Media's campaign to stop broadband providers from advertising "misleading" download speeds that no customers can actually receive has been backed by comparison site uSwitch.com.

It said the Stop the Broadband Con campaign is a welcome "first step" towards improving the market for users.

According to the site's research, around three million broadband customers are unhappy with the speed of their service, despite the average download rate increasing by 25 per cent in 2010.

O2 was the broadband provider with the highest overall level of satisfaction with connection speed at 88 per cent.

At the other end of the scale were AOL and Orange, both on 63 per cent.

The site noted that although customers rank speed above price when picking a broadband package, almost half (44 per cent) of users have never checked the download rate they are actually getting.

Commenting on the Virgin Media campaign, uSwtich.com communications expert Ernest Doku said: "Any initiative that clears up confusion around the broadband speed issue, which affects three million consumers, has to be welcomed."

As part of Stop the Broadband Con, broadband users are being asked to sign an online petition calling for providers to be barred from advertising connection speeds that in reality none of their customers can receive.