Ofcom threatens to bring in strict rules

Following reports that consumers are still not being told accurately what speeds they are likely to get from broadband providers Ofcom has said that it may look at bringing in strict regulations to tackle this issue.

There has been a lot of concern expressed recently over the broadband speeds that providers have been advertising compared to the actual speeds that customers are getting, and this is something that has sparked many complaints from customers that have found that whilst they paid for what seemed to be an impressive up to speed the actual speed they were getting was nowhere near this.

As a result of these complaints the UK’s financial regulator brought in a voluntary code of practice for Internet service providers that would require them to give consumers more information on the actual speeds that they were likely to get based on a variety of factors. However, it has emerged that many providers are still failing to give consumers this information, making it impossible for them to make an informed decision.

The regulator has now stated that because ISPs do not appear to be adhering to this voluntary code by giving consumers more information about the speeds that they can expect, and officials from Ofcom have said that they are considering bringing in a mandatory code to ensure that ISPs do provide this information. Ofcom has said that it will first look at tightening up the voluntary code before considering a mandatory one.

In order to determine how severe the problem was Ofcom conducted research last year that involved a mystery shopping exercise amongst the companies that were signed up to the code. It found that in seventy five percent of the cases consumers had not been told that the actual speed that they would get was likely to be significantly lower than the advertised up to speed.

Source – Times Online