Ofcom sees sense in Crystal Clear campaign

Computeractive's Crystal Clear Broadband campaign has pressed Ofcom into action.

Colette Bowe, chairman of the Ofcom Consumer Panel, has picked up on the issue of transparency of connections speeds, which is one of the main thrusts of our campaign.

She said consumers "are not at the moment getting enough information" on speeds.

In a letter to the chief executives of the top six internet service providers (ISPs), Bowe said that the panel recognised there were good technical reasons for the gulf between advertised and actual speeds, but has called on them to find better ways to explain these and give clearer information to potential customers.

"We have been following the issue for a couple of years", an Ofcom spokesperson told Computeractive. "The research and petition from Computeractive... has added to this and made us realise that now is the right time to look into this further.

"Entry level broadband products are now coming in at 8Mbits/sec and we want to make sure people are getting this speed and any other advertised," he added.

As well as the issue of likely connection speed to a specific line, the panel, which is an independent group set up to advise Ofcom on consumer interest in the markets it regulates, has asked ISPs to consider extending the cooling off period. The panel said this will allow customers to test out the connection speed before they sign a contract.

It also wants customers to be able to cancel their contract without being penalised, under certain circumstances. This includes allowing consumers to cancel if the speeds and quality of connection are well below those advertised, or if problems persist that can't be resolved by a technical solution.

Other support for the campaign is also growing and the petition is now ranked at number 24 on the Number 10 Downing Street website. Currently there are nearly 7,000 signatories to the petition, with more people adding their names every day. Support for the campaign is also coming from politicians as well.

To date readers have run 383,448 speed tests; the majority of which have shown that people are not obtaining speeds even near what they expect to get; even with the proviso that there are technical limitations and speeds are 'up to' a certain level.

If you want to join the call for a fairer deal for consumers, you can add your name to the petition here.