We investigate: the Broadband Code of Practice

Last year we launched our Crystal Clear campaign to get more clarity for consumers about their broadband speeds.

With 62 per cent of the 3,000-plus people who responded to our survey getting less than half the speed advertised for their service, we felt that it was time that the regulator Ofcom took action.

We pushed hard for this and in June Ofcom announced that it was introducing a Code of Practice (CoP) that would give consumers a better deal. The CoP requires internet service providers (ISPs) to give consumers a clearer understanding of the speeds they can get and to ensure that they are on an appropriate broadband package. But what does this actually mean for the consumer?

The bad old days
While speed is not the only criterion that colours people’s perception of their internet service, it is a major contributing factor. Because of this a number of ISPs have been guilty of advertising speeds that many customers cannot obtain. Although some have been rapped over the knuckles by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for not making it clear that most people would never get the advertised speeds, most have protected themselves by using the words “up to” before speeds in adverts.

The problem is that many people take little notice of those words. They genuinely believe they will get at least near to these advertised headline speeds and don’t understand why they don’t.

What ISPs must do
The CoP says that ISPs must now be more upfront about the actual speeds customers can genuinely expect to get. This means before someone signs up for a service, ISPs have to give a very good approximation of the estimated maximum speed the consumer’s line can support; so if the service the customer is interested in offers up to 8Mbits/sec and the customer’s maximum line speed will only reach 2Mbits/sec, this must be made clear.

Ofcom has also told ISPs they will have to provide a facility on their websites so that consumers themselves can find out, in a clear and easily accessible manner, what their estimated access line speed is.