Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Advertising Standards (313 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Advertising Standards

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Ofcom Find 532,000 UK Consumers Taking Social Broadband and Mobile Tariffs

26th February, 2026 (13 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today published their annual Pricing Trends Report for 2026, which among other things confirms that the take-up of cheaper social broadband ISP and mobile tariffs for those on state benefits has jumped to 532,000 customers in June 2025 (up from 506,000 last year). But that’s still just 8.6% of eligible households (e.g. those on Universal Credit) and awareness remains low.

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Broadband and Mobile Providers Adapting to New UK Price Transparency Rules

23rd February, 2026 (4 Comments)

A subtle but very important change is slowly happening behind the scenes of the UK’s consumer telecoms industry, as broadband and mobile providers start realising they need to adapt to the Competition and Markets Authority‘s (CMA) new guidance on unfair commercial practices, particularly around the complex issue of “price transparency“.

Virgin Media O2 UK Walrus TV Advert Screenshot from YouTube

ASA UK Criticise Virgin Media’s Walrus Broadband TV Ad After BT Complaint

18th February, 2026 (1 Comment)

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has criticised a comical TV advert for Virgin Media’s (O2) UK broadband service, which featured a Walrus driving a speedboat, after rival ISP BT complained that the promotion included a claim that could not be verified of the provider being “Awarded Best Broadband Experience”. But one other BT complaint was rejected.

ASA Bans Six More Vodafone UK Ads Over Misleading “Nation’s Network” Claim

7th January, 2026 (13 Comments)

Some readers might recall that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned an advert on mobile and broadband ISP Vodafone’s website in April 2025 after EE complained about the operator describing itself as “The Nation’s Network” (here), which was ultimately deemed to be a misleading claim. The ASA has now banned another six ads for doing the same sort of thing.

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ASA UK Ban Ads for The One Broadband Over Misleading Performance Claim

10th December, 2025 (3 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a direct mailing and circular advert for UK ISP The One Broadband (DSV Communications Ltd), which occurred after both were found to have misleadingly suggested that some of those who received the promotions currently only received “poor broadband connectivity” from their existing service, when that was not the case.

ASA Bans UK Starlink Satellite Broadband Ad for Misleading Pricing

10th December, 2025 (3 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an online banner advert for SpaceX’s ultrafast broadband satellite service, Starlink, after it was found to be “misleading” because the offer of free terminal hardware (normally £299) omitted several key bits of material information.

ASA UK Ban Broadband ISP Zzoomm’s Ethically Questionable Direct Mail Ad

22nd October, 2025 (7 Comments)

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today banned yet another direct mailing advert for alternative full fibre broadband ISP Zzoomm, which occurred after it was found that the mail was NOT “obviously identifiable as a marketing communication” and misled recipients about the importance of its content.

ASA Ban UK ISP Community Fibre’s “Misleading” Best Internet Provider Claims

8th October, 2025 (9 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a website promotion for London-focused broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which occurred after it was found to have misleadingly claimed to be both the “#1 rated internet provider on Trustpilot – with the most 5 star reviews” and “#1 Best ‘Internet Provider’“.

Broadband ISP TalkTalk Follows Brand Refresh with FTTP Price Cut and TV Campaign

11th September, 2025 (13 Comments)

UK ISP TalkTalk has followed last week’s launch of their refreshed branding (here) by kicking off a nationwide marketing and TV campaign. The campaign will run across social media, video-on-demand, outdoor, and audio channels, and features the provider’s new tag line: “Now you’re TalkTalkin“. They’ve also cut the price of their 150Mbps full fibre package.

A Question of Ethical Direct Mail Advertising by UK Broadband ISPs

6th July, 2025 (31 Comments)

Today we’d like to pose a simple question, is the following direct mail envelope from a broadband ISP an appropriate way of advertising the service? The boundary between ethics and advertising is often a difficult tightrope to traverse, with many pros and cons to consider. But we are increasingly seeing the competitive market produce promotions that dip deeper into a grey zone.

Vodafone UK Website Adverts Banned Over Misleading Savings Claim

21st May, 2025 (0 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), prompted by a complaint from rival mobile operator EE (BT), has banned two website adverts for Vodafone after the watchdog found that it had made “misleading” savings claims and the packages did not return to the prices against which the savings were being claimed once the promotions ended.

ASA Order EE UK to Qualify Fair Usage Terms on Unlimited Mobile Data Plans

21st May, 2025 (13 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today ordered mobile operator EE (BT) to ensure that the “unlimited data” (mobile broadband) claims on their website, which apply to various 4G and 5G mobile plans, are directly qualified with the limits expressed in their associated Fair Usage Policy (FUP).

BT Fail to Get CityFibre Ad Banned Over Full Fibre Availability Complaint UPDATE

23rd April, 2025 (29 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has declined to uphold a complaint against one of CityFibre’s direct mailing adverts for their new UK FTTP broadband network. The complaint was lodged by the BT Group after they suggested it “misleadingly implied there was no existing full fibre broadband at the address.”

Advertising rules for uk broadband and telecoms (123RF 57622626)

ASA Ban Vodafone UK Ad Over Misleading “The Nation’s Network” Claim

16th April, 2025 (3 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advert on UK mobile and broadband operator Vodafone’s website. This occured after EE complained that its claim of being “The Nation’s Network” was an “implied comparative superiority claim“, which was ultimately deemed to be “misleading“.

ASA Ban EE UK Broadband Ads for Misleading Wi-Fi 7 Router Claims UPDATE

26th March, 2025 (16 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned several TV, radio, paid-for social media and digital poster adverts for UK ISP EE’s (BT) home broadband service. This occurred after they were found to have made “misleading” claims about the capabilities of the provider’s new Wi-Fi 7 Smart Hub Pro router and Smart Wi-Fi Pro device.

Ofcom Enforce BAN on Some Mid-Contract UK Broadband Price Hikes

16th January, 2025 (19 Comments)

Ofcom will tomorrow begin enforcing a new rule that bans UK phone, mobile, pay TV and broadband providers from doing mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation (CPI or RPI) and percentage-based changes. The change will make pricing clearer for new customers, but some consumers could still pay more than under the old model.

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2025 Broadband Price Hikes and the Impact of Ofcom’s New UK Policy

28th December, 2024 (45 Comments)

On 17th January 2025 Ofcom will begin enforcing a ban on mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation and percentage changes (here), but this doesn’t extend to many existing broadband contracts. Consumers on bigger ISPs may thus find themselves being divided between two different pricing policies, and one is going to hurt your wallet more than the other.