By: MarkJ - 2 September, 2010 (1:02 PM) - Score: 11005 - Fixed Line Broadband, Statistics

Cable giant Virgin Media has published the results of a new ICM survey, which was conducted with 1,000 UK adults during July 2010. The study found that 9 out of 10 consumers still find current broadband ISP advertising to be misleading. In response Virgin has pledged to publish the typical average speeds its customers receive each month across its 10Mb, 20Mb and 50Mb services.

The research identified broadband speeds as second only to price when choosing a broadband provider. But the vast majority of people (90%) find it difficult to compare different services because they can’t be sure of the speed they’ll actually receive.


There is a clear appetite for change, with 93% of respondents agreeing that the rules should be tightened to prevent ISPs making a speed claim unless it matches the typical "real world" experience of a clear majority of customers.

Survey Highlights

* Only 9% of people think advertised broadband speeds tend to be accurate

* Only 2% of people believe the approach of advertising “up to” speeds is the clearest or most helpful way to advertise broadband speeds

* 93% of people believe ISPs should only advertise the typical speed received by the majority of customers

* 94% of people believe broadband providers should advertise consistent information about broadband speeds – so they can reliably compare speeds

* The research highlighted widespread cynicism towards current broadband advertising – 54% of people are unsurprised when shown the difference between advertised and actual speeds

* 41% of people are willing to pay more if they can be sure of a faster broadband connection

Virgin's position is easy to understand, not least because it continues to come top of the pack in most consumer broadband speed tests. Ofcom also praised Virgin Media's up to 10Mb and up to 20Mb services for delivering average speeds more than twice as fast as its DSL ( up to 8Mb ADSL, 24Mb ADSL2+ ) competitors, with around 90% of the headline speed being delivered to Virgin Media customers.

It goes without saying that many of the larger DSL providers, such as BT , TalkTalk , Orange , O2 and Sky Broadband UK, would probably be less inclined towards adopting Virgin Media's solution because it would paint many of them as being significantly slower. However some smaller and faster DSL providers would probably jump at the chance to show their merits against the big boys.

It's important to point out that Virgin Media defines the typical speed as the average speed received by 66% of customers over a 24 hour period. We also think they could go further by presenting the typical average directly on their broadband product pages, as opposed to being in a separate section.

Virgin Media's "Speedhonesty" Page
http://www.virginmedia.com/speedhonesty