Broadband Providers are to give more realistic broadband speeds that customers will receive
A range of new rules has been set out from Ofcom for broadband providers saying that they have to give accurate information about broadband speeds that customers will receive.
The speed customers receive broadband at can vary greatly depending on different factors such as the distance the customer is from their telephone exchange.
Under the new rules broadband providers will have to:
- Provide consumers at the point of sale with an accurate estimate of the maximum speed that their line can support;
- Explain clearly and simply how technical factors may slow down speeds and giving help and advice to consumers to improve the situation at home;
- Offer an alternative package (if there is one) without any penalties, if the actual speed is a lot lower than the original estimate; and
- Explain fair usage policies clearly and alert consumers when they have been breached.
This new set of rules should hopefully make things much clearer to customers who will be able to get much more cost effective broadband deals now and won't be paying for speeds (broadband speed test) that they are unlikely to be receiving.
It is a voluntary code that broadband providers can sign up to and has been taken up by broadband providers covering 95% of broadband customers in the UK.
At time of publication the following is the list of broadband providers who have signed up to the new code (in alphabetical order):
AOL Broadband, Aquiss Internet, Be Broadband, BT Total Broadband, Dark Group Ltd, Demon, Eclipse Internet, Exa Networks, Fast.co.uk, Firefly Internet, Freedom2Surf, Gravity Internet, Greenbee Broadband, IDNet, Karoo, MacAce.net, Madasafish, Namesco Ltd, Netplan Internet Solutions Ltd, NewNet, NewNet Direct services, Nildram, O2 Business Broadband, O2 Home Broadband, Orange Home, Pipex Homecall, Pipex Internet, Playlouder.com, PlusNet Broadband, Polestar Interactive Ltd, Post Office Limited, Pro-Net Internet Services Ltd, Rutland Telecom, SAQ - Service Access Quality, Sky, Solutios, Stream Networks Ltd (StreamNET), Surf Anytime, TalkTalk, TalkTalk Business, Tiscali, Toucan, Twang, UK Online, Virgin Media, Waitrose Broadband, YSH, Zen Internet
The speed customers receive broadband at can vary greatly depending on different factors such as the distance the customer is from their telephone exchange.
