Consumers confused and frustrated by misleading broadband advertising

New research from ICM suggests that nine out of ten people find broadband advertising misleading and a new incentive by Virgin Media hopes to change all that.

The independent research, which surveyed 1000 people, found that people look at broadband speeds as second only to price when choosing an Internet Service Provider. It also revealed that consumers are keen to have more transparency to advertised 'up to' speeds.

Many ISP's advertise speeds of 'up to' 20Mb or 24 Mb while the real figure is often more likely to be in the 5Mb ballpark. During the survey, the vast majority of those questioned felt that it was very difficult to compare services and be sure of the actual speed they would receive. Ninety per cent expressed this is an ongoing issue, while ninety three percent stated that advertising should be changed to match more 'real world' scenarios.

Cable operator Virgin Media is one of the ISPs keen to meet this demand from consumers. It will therefore be publishing its typical broadband speeds each month across its 10Mb, 20Mb and 50Mb services. Customers can view the information at www.virginmedia.com/speedhonesty.

Jon James, executive director of broadband, at Virgin Media said: “People are paying for faster and faster broadband but being ripped off by unscrupulous providers who can’t deliver their promised speeds to even a single customer. A change in advertising is urgently needed to build consumer confidence in super-fast broadband and the industry more generally."

"In the meantime, I hope other ISPs will quickly follow Virgin Media’s lead by disclosing their own monthly performance data so people can make an informed decision about how to spend their money.”

The research conducted by ICM follows on from the recent Ofcom report that also highlighted a significant gap between 'up to' speed claims featured in advertising and those delivered to consumers. Ofcom found that as of May this year DSL providers were delivering just thirty three percent of headline speeds on up to 20Mb and 24Mb broadband packages.