The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has confirmed that it is launching a review into how internet services, specifically those offered by broadband ISP's and mobile operators, are marketed. The review itself will take a comprehensive look at the use and abuse of misleading broadband speed and "unlimited" claims.
In the past the ASA has itself been accused of being far too soft on misleading uses of "unlimited" terminology. ISP's frequently attach the claim to restrictive measures, which often only show up inside the small print of a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) and they can be very vague.
The ASA itself does not have the power to make policy and can in fact only rule on specific issues. As a result its review will be conducted alongside the British Code of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which can set policy.
The ASA's Communications and Policy Manager, Lynsay Taffe, told NewMediaAge:
"We’ve looked at a number of complaints about individual ads in the telecoms sector regarding access speeds and usage limits and found that applying a single policy to how telecoms providers advertise can pose significant challenges.
It’s important that we look at this on a broader policy level with service providers, other regulators and consumer groups, rather than relying on individual ASA rulings that focus on a particular service on one platform. Therefore, the ASA has invited CAP and BCAP to review broadband speed and ‘unlimited’ use claims."
A good example of how NOT to use "unlimited" terminology recently surfaced when ISPreview.co.uk revealed that O2's Home Access broadband package for BT lines was using contradictive advertising. It appeared to promote "unlimited downloads" but still set confusing restrictions in the small print; some customers were even disconnected for downloading too much (here).
Ironically O2 most recently set a better example by abandoning "unlimited" claims on its mobile data ( Mobile Broadband ) tariffs for Smartphone devices, such as the iPhone (here). In any case there are many broadband ISP's claiming to offer "unlimited" services, although some clearly mislead customers.
There are of course some providers who do claim to offer truly unlimited services, such as certain Sky Broadband , Be Broadband and unbundled O2 broadband packages, though many still apply vague or confusing terms alongside unrealistic marketing. Others, like Virgin Media UK, also offer "unlimited" but could still apply speed restrictions if you download too much within a given period.
