Should the wording 'Unlimited' be removed from all broadband ads that incur a fair usage policy?
Yes
[ 15 ] 93%
No
[ 1 ] 6%
Total Votes : 16
admin
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 11:36 pm
Site AdminJoined: 07 Apr 2006Posts: 784Location: United Kingdom
uSwitch.com has called on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and industry watchdog Ofcom to consider banning advertising for these supposedly unmetered services.
Do you think that adverts for broadband services that claim to offer customers unlimited downloads but actually have a 'fair usage' policy should be banned?
Vote yes or no and feel free to add your comments below...
Joined: 10 Aug 2006Posts: 47Location: Hampshire, UK
I don't think there is any real harm in calling something Unlimited with a Fair Usage Policy as long as the amount is quantifiable and the amount decided upon is largely unattainable by most. For a service to be deemed as unlimited I don't feel it has to be necessarily 'unlimited' of the strictest form as surely there has to be cap somewhere.
On this ground when you look at products such as Orange's 'Unlimited' Broadband it falls down on both hurdles, not only is the amount not clearly quantified but if the amount is around the 50gb mark than in broadband terms this amount is not hugely unattainable.
As an example of a good fair usage policy you could look to the mobile side of Orange. Within the Magic Numbers Promotion the 'unlimited' calls are clearly defined in the terms and conditions. A fair usage is deemed to be up to Three hours per day (well quantified) and the amount of Three hours per day works out at approximately 5400 minutes a month, which would be seen as an amount that is unattainable by most users.
I would agree that 50GB is no longer a large usage amount.
I have suggested on numerous occasions if Orange do have a limit on the 'Unlimited' package they share it with their customers so we are aware. No where in the FUP is this stated although i have had confirmed in several emails the download limit is 50GB.
Firstly, If something is called "Unlimited- Fair usage Policy". This is what I would expect this to mean:
Unlimited downloads, but downloading during busy hours i.e. 5pm-11pm is reduced i.e. Broadband not allowed to be 'Maxed out'. This would be fair as heavy downloaders wouldn't be able to exploit maximum downloading during busy hours, but could do as they please out of hours.
In reality you get a cap of about 30-50gigs- a cap does not equate to Unlimited. So I believe they should drop the unlimited-fup statement and state a "cap" instead. Then again, we all know Oranges Ads wouldn't have the same success if they told the ugly truth right?....
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