UK NEWS
REVEALED: THE GREAT BROADBAND RIP-OFF
Broadband customers are not getting what they pay for, according to Ofcom
By Geoff Marsh for express.co.uk
NO broadband customers are receiving the top download speeds advertised by internet service providers (ISPs), the communications watchdog said today.
More than half of broadband users are on packages that offer speeds of “up to” 8 megabits per second (Mbps), but research by Ofcom found in practice they received an average speed of 3.9 Mbps - less than half of the advertised maximum speed.
Ofcom said it was impossible for customers to receive the so-called “headline speed” of 8 Mbps, because some capacity is reserved for technical reasons.
The highest speed a customer on an 8 Mbps package could receive in practice is around 7.2 Mbps, Ofcom said, and this is only likely if they live extremely close to the telephone exchange through which their connection is routed.
Fewer than one in 10 customers on an 8 Mbps package received an average speed of more than 6 Mbps, and around one in five received an average speed of less than 2 Mbps.
The Government’s Digital Britain report on the future of communications and media laid down 2 Mbps as the minimum speed that should be available to all homes in the UK by 2012.
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BT was one of the worst providers
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Download speeds are affected by the technology used to deliver broadband and the capacity of the ISPs’ networks, Ofcom said.
Customers who get their internet through a standard copper wire - known as a DSL connection - receive significantly slower speeds than those on cable broadband.
The report said customers on Virgin Media’s “up to 10 Mbps” cable service enjoyed speeds more than twice as high as “up to 8Mbps” DSL customers.
Virgin customers on this package received an average speed of between 8.1 and 8.7 Mbps, or 81-87 per cent of the headline speed.
This compares with customers on BT’s “up to 8Mbps” package, who, Ofcom found, receive average speeds of between 3.8 and 4.2 Mbps, or 48 - 60 per cent of the advertised maximum.
Ofcom’s six-month study involved more than 60 million broadband performance tests in 1,600 homes, and found the average broadband speed in the UK in April was 4.1 Mbps.
Slow download speed was the biggest cause of complaint among consumers, Ofcom said, with more than a quarter of users saying the speeds they received were not what they expected when they signed up with their internet service provider (ISP).
Network capacity was another important factor in determining download speeds, Ofcom said - during the 8pm to 10pm peak, the overall average speed customers received falls from 4.1 Mbps to 3.7 Mbps.
Peter Phillips, Ofcom’s board member for strategy and market developments, said it was not for Ofcom to comment on ISPs’ advertising material.
“The point is that people are not lying to consumers - if you live close to the exchange you can get very close to the headline speed,” he said.
“What we are trying to do here is make available information to people so they can make choices. Banning advertising speeds would not be in consumers’ interests.”
Speed was only one factor informing people’s decision on which ISP to use, he said, with price, customer service and availability also important.
Mr Phillips said competition between ISPs was forcing them to invest in better technology to improve speeds, and the average connection speed had risen from 3.6 Mbps in January.
Ofcom published a number of advisory documents today to help broadband users choose their supplier and improve their connection speed, and these can be found on the watchdog’s website at www.ofcom.org.uk.
Ed Richards, Ofcom’s chief executive, said: “This considerable survey gives consumers important information about broadband speeds.
“We hope it will be a spur to competition and further investment by the internet providers in their networks.”
The advertising watchdog said it was happy that the “up to” caveats included in broadband marketing material were enough to ensure customers were not being misled.
If customers came forward to complain of being mis-sold broadband packages, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) said, it would investigate and take action where necessary.
A spokesman said the “up to” speed was the only one that could be verified technically at the point where the service entered the exchange, and beyond that point it was affected by a range of factors.
“It is also common with all technology to claim the maximum capacity, while using some of that capacity to run an object,” the spokesman said.
HOW DOES YOUR BROADBAND COMPARE?
ISP AND PACKAGE AVERAGE SPEED
Virgin Media (“up to” 10 Mbps) 8.1 to 8.7 Mbps
O2 (“up to” 8 Mbps)* 4.1 to 5.1 Mbps
Plusnet (“up to” 8 Mbps)* 3.8 to 4.9 Mbps
Sky (“up to” 8 Mbps) 4.0 to 4.7 Mbps
Talk Talk (“up to” 8 Mbps) 3.8 to 4.6 Mbps
Orange (“up to” 8 Mbps) 3.8 to 4.5 Mbps
BT (“up to” 8 Mbps) 3.8 to 4.2 Mbps
AOL (“up to” 8 Mbps) 3.3 to 3.9 Mbps
Tiscali (“up to” 8 Mbps) 3.2 to 3.7 Mbps
* Ofcom said the samples used for Plusnet and O2 were smaller than for the other ISPs, and their data should be treated with caution.
REVEALED: THE GREAT BROADBAND RIP-OFF
28.07.09, 11:15pm
I can't believe how stupid you people are in the UK! While being in the USA and signed up for up to 8 mps, I receive on a regular basis download speeds in excess of 20mps.
It would appear that you are technically challenged to say the least.
• Posted by: Taurus40cal • Report Comment
REVEALED: THE GREAT BROADBAND RIP-OFF
28.07.09, 2:06pm
Like Gordon Brown BT didn't invest for the future...It is entirely their fault that the UK has become a communications back water. The problem is with BT's crappy copper ends, we were told that privitizaton would bring capital and competition to the coms market..as with the other privatizations its not working...all the roads eventually lead back to BT...they've got a monopoly..they care only for their shareholders and couldn't care less about their tied customers
In the US, where they still care about consumers, BT would have fallen foul of the antitrust law years ago..
• Posted by: TicToc • Report Comment
THIS NEWS IS SOMETHING MOST OF US OUT THERE KNEW DONKEYS YEARS AGO..
28.07.09, 1:41pm
DE give us news not history ...fact is a corrupt government is an example for all the others to follow... honest folks wither in a garden full of dishonest weeds.
• Posted by: Moronamid • Report Comment
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