Until this week, the UK’s broadband providers have been allowed to advertise their top speeds, regardless of whether customers can expect to obtain them on a regular basis.
The practice of advertising ‘up to’ speeds doesn’t do a lot for consumers crawling along at a snail’s pace, minus the ability to make it through a Netflix stream at peak times.
Customers felt misled by the advertising, and with good reason. It’s like buying ‘up to’ a pint of craft beer and getting a shot glass of Carling from the barkeep.
Thankfully, from tomorrow (Wednesday May 23), all that changes. New Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) rules will require ISPs to show their average speeds, rather than the best case scenario.
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According to the ASA that ‘average’ is the download speed attainable by at least half of all customers during the web’s evening rush hour, from 8pm-10pm.
The change represents a major step forward for consumers when weighing up their broadband options. No longer will Brits be suckered in by unattainable download speeds and will be able to make a quantifiable choice based on those averages.
Sky Broadband was the first to begin advertising average download speeds, alongside the ‘up to’ speeds, way back in December 2016. The company is now advertising only average speeds, which sit at 11Mbps, 34Mbps and 57Mbps for its various packages.
Will this change make things clearer for you? Are you happy with your broadband speed? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
