Almost half of all broadband users are being ripped off by service providers as they receive less than half the connection speed they signed up for, a survey disclosed yesterday.
The moneysupermarket.com poll shows that 44 per cent of users are affected as providers are failing to deliver the speeds they advertise.
The survey shows that 55 per cent of the nation spends an average of 172 hours - or more than seven days - a year downloading music, games, films and podcasts.
Ofcom, the communications regulator, has confirmed that it is in discussions with six broadband providers.
Helen Simpson, an Ofcom spokesman, said: "It is a concern for Ofcom if consumers are being misled, or feel they are being misled. We are already looking closely at this issue.
"We've expressed our concern to the Advertising Standards Authority and we're talking to the industry."
Rob Barnes, the head of broadband and mobiles at moneysupermarket.com, said: "As most people are only achieving half the speed they signed up for, a typical film of 500Mb could take up to four hours to download, instead of 60-90 minutes."
Consultations are ongoing between Ofcom's consumer panel and industry leaders BSkyB, BT, Carphone Warehouse, Orange, Tiscali and Virgin Media and the panel hopes to publish the findings in early December.
Joined: 03 Aug 2007Posts: 9Location: North London, Essex
This is "news"?? Any reader of this site would have figured that one out a long time ago!!
Call me a cynic, but I have a feeling that Ofcom's "consultation" will lead to changes, but not improvements. Actually, in my opinion, Orange saw this one coming, and are already putting up their defences.
My own arguments with Orange have been ongoing for about a year now, and have all been associated with download speeds. Curiously, in the last letter I received from them, I was informed that "speed" was not the primary interest of customers who sign up or upgrade, but was more about the "package content". Really???
I replied of course, pointing out that, when Orange sent me an email, offering an "upgrade", the very first bullet point in the list of advantages was about the increase in speed I would enjoy. The response of Orange to this was a long, deafening silence.
The Law is such that they can (and do) get away with their misleading and ambiguous advertising methods. Ofcom can do nothing about that, so I believe that the best we can hope for is for Orange (and the rest of 'em) to be told that they are very, very naughty.
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