Carmichael: “Broadband adverts must be accurate”

MP for Orkney and Shetland, Alistair Carmichael, has criticised the way in which Broadband providers advertise Broadband connectivity speeds.

His criticism comes after a report from Which? showed broadband speeds are, on average, 52 per cent slower than advertised. The analysis looked at 235,000 customers advertised speeds, and the actual speeds on their line.

Commenting, Mr. Carmichael said: “Broadband companies are happy to promise the earth to consumers, but when it comes to delivering it, they are simply not able to match up to their words. These promised speeds are dishonest, and extremely frustrating for those who signed up expecting a reliable, reasonable internet speed, and find themselves unable to download even basic web pages.

“The Advertising Agency have rightly looked at this and decided that internet broadband sellers must use speeds which are available to at least half of consumers, rather than an “up to” speed. We in Orkney and Shetland know that whatever the advertised speed is, all too often, this will not be reflected in the experience we have as consumers.

“In order to get accurate, reliable adverts, they ought to use a guaranteed minimum broadband speed, rather than an average or maximum. That way all consumers could make a truly informed choice.”