BT Wholesale, which is responsible for supplying most of the UKs broadband connections, has called on Ofcom and the industry in general to be clearer about how broadband speeds are advertised.

It has long been the case that the speed a customer receives may differ significantly from the ISPs original advertised figure. Line length, interference, network congestion and ISP side restrictions are just a number of reasons why performance can fall below expectations.

Recent research from Point Topic also revealed that just 15% of those subscribing to an 8Mbps package achieved even close to the advertised rate, falling to 4% for those on rarer 16Mbps services:


Typically most ISPs get around the problem by installing a simple 'up to' prefix before the advertised speed, which signifies that the performance is likely to vary. However, this method is far too vague and many feel that ISPs should advertise expected performance with greater honesty.

Ofcom is currently reviewing the situation and is due to report back soon; meanwhile little is likely to change. More @ BBC News Online.