Broadband 'speed lies' exposed

Tuesday, 28 July 2009 08:47

The average UK broadband speed is 4.1Mbit/s - 57 per cent of the average advertised speed.

Between 8pm and 10pm, the average speed is 3.7Mbit/s.

An Ofcom report found 17 per cent of those with packages advertised as over 2Mbit/s receive average speeds below this.

Some 11 per cent never receive speeds over 2Mbit/s despite paying for them.

2Mbit/s is a key speed as the government is aiming to have the whole nation covered by 2Mbit/s speeds by 2012.

The research also saw fast packages falling short.

The key term is 'up to'. Largely the Ofcom data shows 'up to' should really stand for 'about double the average speed'.

The only provider to break this pattern was Virgin Media, with its fibre optics offering up to 10Mbit/s hitting and hitting an average of 8.1 to 8.7Mbit/s.

Tiscali, TalkTalk, Sky, Plusnet, Orange, O2, BT and AOL all saw the high speed headline rates of up to 8Mbits hitting around half this level.

Broadband average speeds

The huge difference between average speeds and headline 'up to' speeds adds another argument for them to be dropped in advertising.

However, this seems unlikely as no firm seems willing to take that first step.

Consumers need to know these figures are mostly inflated nonsense.

The research, however, found most people were satisfied with their service.

Some 83 per cent of the Ofcom consumer panellists were satisfied overall with their broadband service.

But speed was the single biggest cause of dissatisfaction among those who were dissatisfied.

And generally speed was more of an issue than price or reliability for consumers.

Audrey Gallacher, head of customer experience at Consumer Focus, said: "Ofcom's research should stop companies exaggerating their claims about broadband speeds. It is really welcome that consumers will, for the first time, have a way of comparing internet providers.

"Consumers have long suspected that they don't get the speeds they're led to expect, and are paying over the odds for their broadband services."

If you are looking for faster speeds Ofcom has produced a guide to getting faster internet as well as a video.

Compare best broadband deals with myfinances.co.uk and broadbandchoices.co.uk

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