Virgin Media Calls For Broadband Speed Honesty

Virgin Media has issued a call for clarity about broadband speeds in the UK and, in a move guaranteed to irritate its rivals, called for an end to what it termed the ‘broadband con.’

And Virgin Media added to the charge by urging consumers to ‘demand an end to misleading broadband advertising’

“Internet service providers (ISPs) are advertising speeds of ‘up to’ 20MB or 24MB but delivering an average speed of just 6.5MB,” said Virgin, citing Ofcom figures. To this end, Virgin has created a website to allow frustrated web users to make their voice heard. Virgin Media is hoping that it will add to the pressure on ISPs to publish the real speeds they deliver to customers.

Broadband Slow Lane

“People are paying for superfast broadband but receiving a service stuck in the slow lane,” said Jon James, executive director of broadband, Virgin Media. “Broadband providers need to stop advertising speeds that not a single customer can receive and we’re asking people to support our call for change by signing up to stopthebroadbandcon.org.”

“Faster broadband means better broadband, whether you’re surfing the web, watching TV online or downloading music and UK consumers deserve superfast broadband they can trust, rather than having to rely on the fairytales and broken promises of current broadband advertising,” said James.

And Richard Branson also waded into the subject.

Online Petition

“Staying connected is central to our lives and we all deserve broadband we can trust,” said Branson (left). “I’m challenging all broadband providers to be honest with their customers and ask people to add their voice to the campaign by signing up to Stopthebroadbandcon.org.”

The Virgin Media website essentially allows users to test their own broadband speed and compare it to the speeds being advertised by the ISPs. Users will also be able to add their name to an online petition calling for change.

“The Advertising Standards Authority has asked for a review of broadband speed claims in advertising and www.stopthebroadbandcon.org will help ensure the consumer voice is heard in the debate,” said the ISP.

Virgin Media also cited recent research from ICM which found that nine out of ten people find current broadband advertising misleading. It also found high levels of consumer frustration (67 percent) with ISPs who routinely fail to deliver on their promises.

Virgin Media said that consumer demand for change is overwhelming with the clear majority agreeing that advertising rules should be changed to prevent ISPs making a speed claim unless it matches the typical real world experience of a clear majority of customers.

Virgin Media said that it is already publishing the typical average speeds its customers receive each month across its 10MB, 20MB and 50MB services at www.virginmedia.com/speedhonesty.

Virgin Media is able to occupy something of the moral high ground thanks to its fibre-based network. The ISP is offering speeds of up to 100Mbps. This was announced back in February. The company also demonstrated 200Mbps broadband technology in March.

Consumer Awareness

Virgin Media’s call and petition comes at a time when UK citizens are increasingly aware of their broadband line speeds. BT for example recently announced that the towns of Caxton in Cambridgeshire and Malvern in Worcester were leading BT’s ‘Race to Infinity’, a competition the operator started in October to assess the demand for fibre optic broadband  in different areas of the country.

The scale of the problem of poor line speed was recently revealed when research conducted by broadband comparison website Top10, discovered that the three worst broadband blackspots in Britain were Farningham in Kent (1.3Mbps), Duns in Scotland (1.4Mbps), and Harbury in Warwickshire (1.5Mbps).

Meanwhile, the coalition government has pledged to roll out a miserly 2Mbps broadband to all British homes by 2015.