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UPDATE UK ISPs Give Mixed Response to Ofcoms Updated Broadband Speed Code

Posted: 28th Jul, 2010 By: MarkJ
Yesterday's move by the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to toughen its Voluntary Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds ("the Code") has been greeted with a mixed response by the country's Internet Service Providers (ISP). Most providers have welcomed the changes but a few clearly have gripes.

The code itself introduced a number of changes, which include giving customers the option to be released from their contracts, ensuring you are given an estimated maximum line speed early in the sales process and a new method for displaying the users estimated range of expected broadband speed(s), which incidentally looks set to cause no end of confusion.

Nick Thompson, Director of consumer services at KC ( Karoo ), said:

"One of the most frustrating aspects for consumers is that the service they sign up for doesn’t always match the ‘up to’ speeds that are advertised by broadband providers. Whilst it is encouraging to see that average actual broadband speeds are on the increase, the research from Ofcom highlights the enormous difference that still exists between attractively-advertised 'up to' speeds and the speeds that consumers actually receive.

At KC, we have a long standing commitment to customer service and transparency in the broadband market and have developed a Broadband Speed Map so that users can check and compare actual broadband speeds, on any given post code, before signing up or moving home. With the increasing popularity of bandwidth-hungry applications, such as online video, consumers need an accurate picture of the speeds they can access, so we are urging other providers to follow our lead. Strengthening the voluntary code of practice is a move in the right direction and should encourage other ISPs to be more open and honest with their customers."

Director of Eclipse Internet UK, Clodagh Murphy, says:

"We have long championed the move towards better informing customers about the services they are buying, and being realistic about line speeds is a key part of this. As the current industry standard description of the two main ADSL networks is “up to 8Mbps” and “up to 24Mbps”, it’s never been more important for websites and sales teams to ensure absolute clarity on actual performance.

At Eclipse, we’ve made sure that our free online Speedchecker is highly visible on all broadband sales pages for customers to do their own initial check for a more realistic estimation.”

Secondly, we’ve invested heavily in staff training to ensure potential purchasers get a really personal consultation on how their broadband connection is likely to perform. Our customer services advisors will run through the SpeedChecker result as well as running a secondary check, using all the industry tools we have access to. But it’s the final stage of the advisory process which is possibly the most important. Our teams take time to explain the factors that affect broadband speed in detail, allowing customers a very realistic idea of actual performance in their own personal situation."

The CEO of TalkTalk UK, Charles Dunstone, said:

"We think there is more Ofcom could be doing to improve the flow of information from BT about what speeds can technically be achieved on its network, as well as getting it to improve the quality of the lines.

The reality is that when the BT network was built no one had ever dreamed of broadband, so we are all trying to run a 21st century technology over a network that was designed for making phone calls.

That’s why we’ve invested over £500m so far in our own, unbundled, fibre network, the largest unbundled network in the UK, covering 85% of the population. We’re continuing to invest in unbundling further exchanges this year too, allowing us to reach even more people.

Over time the move to install fibre will remove the imbalances that currently exist as we will be able to offer a consistent and much faster speed to everyone.

Our average ‘line sync’ speed across the network is 10.5 Mpbs. Our advertising claims up to 24 Mbps, because this is the truth, but we make sure every customer gets as honest an estimate as we can make as to the speed they will actually receive when they begin the process of signing up.

We provide our customers with information, advice, and special ‘speed kits‘ to help them optimise their connection and get the best broadband speed possible. We were also the first ISP to provide customers with this information, a policy Ofcom subsequently made part of its code. That’s why we’re very happy to sign up to Ofcom’s Broadband Speeds Code as a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to transparency about the speeds we offer."

General AAISP Statement

The main issue is that performance of broadband lines (in terms of speed) is to be measured by reference to the speeds of similar lines with the same ISP - thus making 1 in 10 customers below some new guaranteed minimum access speed. This is regardless of how good the ISP is, how fast their lines are or how consistent they are for specific line characteristics. We also feel the new code actively discourages pro-active monitoring of broadband line quality and speed (which we do a lot of).

Trefor Davies, Chief Technology Officer at Timico UK, commented:

"This revised Code is more complicated than the original which makes me wonder about its usability and therefore effectiveness and indeed why the existing signatories agreed to it.

For example ISPs are now expected to offer their prospective customers a range (20th%ile to 80th%ile) of speeds that they might expect to see out their line. If the speed subsequently comes in below expectations ISPs have to be able to tell the customer how their worst 10% lines perform.

This adds to the complexity of the systems that ISPs will have to develop to support this Code. This is on top of the complexity created in the system by the Digital Economy Act! Businesses need to spend their time making their lives simpler not more complex!

The way forward I believe is for Ofcom to stop ISPs promoting the absolute max speeds they can (occasionally) provide and to concentrate on a simple “typical” range. Marketing departments won’t like this of course."

Piers Linney, joint CEO for Outsourcery, said:

"With the uptake of Cloud computing gaining momentum, and IDC forecasting 25% growth in the market to reach $40.5 billion by 2014, Businesses are set to suffer undue hardship due to the poor ‘dual level’ broadband networks which currently service British companies and is becoming known as the ‘urban/rural digital divide’. This inequality, will effectively create a two speed economy where regional companies will not have the access speeds they require to conduct critical business communications. Ultimately Britain’s competitiveness in the global marketplace will be affected by this."

Certainly one gripe we have been reading a lot about comes mostly from consumers, many of which have concerns about the new way Ofcom requires ISPs to provide an estimate of line speed. Many view this as being overly complicated and hard to explain, indeed one look at Ofcom's explanation shows why.
Ofcom's Line Speed Estimation Solution

For those ISPs using technologies such as DSL for which the access line speed can be lower than the headline speed, ISPs and their Representatives must:

c. ensure that the access line speed information provided within the sales process is a range which is equivalent to the access line speeds achieved by the 20th to 80th percentiles of the ISP’s similar customers (i.e. customers with similar line characteristics).

The ISP should also explain to the consumer that the range of access line speeds provided is only an estimate and that if the consumer receives an access line speed which is significantly below this range then the customer should contact the ISP.

If asked to explain further or asked to state the definition of “significantly below”, the ISP should provide information on the access line speed achieved by the bottom 10th percentile (or above) of the ISP’s similar customers (“the minimum guaranteed access line speed”) and explain that if the customer’s actual access line speed is below the minimum guaranteed access line speed, then it will follow the process set out in the 4th Principle.

ISPs may supplement the range provided with an additional single-point estimate within the range which is no higher than the median access line speed achieved by the ISP’s similar customers.
Clear as mud.

UPDATE 7:21am

Comment from O2 UK.

Felix Geyr, O2's Head of Home and Broadband, said:

"At O2 we welcome this study and I am obviously pleased to see that O2 and our sister company Be Broadband have come out as the fastest of the DSL providers in the UK.

The new code will mean ISPs have to give customers a range of speed they can expect. You may ask “where’s the accuracy there?”, but I believe this provides customers with more clarity around the variance in speed they may receive. At O2 if you buy broadband from us but we see you’re line speed is not what you were told it would be we will contact you to let you know and put you on to the package that is best for you. Why pay more if you don’t need to?

There will also be a requirement in the future to let customers leave, without penalty, if their service level is below the lower threshold for a period of more than three months.

At O2 Home Broadband, we believe that if your service isn’t what we sold you, or you can’t get the speed we stated then we will let you walk away, at no extra cost thanks to our 30-Day Happiness Guarantee. As part of the new code Ofcom have said customers should be allowed to leave if their speed is lower than expected for more than three months. It is a fact that line speeds can change so this announcement is certainly one that will benefit the customer.

I have said before though that it is time we start to think about what we use the internet for, rather than worrying about the speed we get down the line. If you only need to surf and send email then paying for a service that can deliver a lot more than that is not necessary."

UPDATE 8:49am

Another one, this time from Star.

John Adey, Chief Operating Officer at Star, said:

"The Ofcom findings show that there is a high degree of variation between broadband providers' claims and the actual quality of service delivered and that only 8% of homes are actually connected to a service that can achieve the highest speeds advertised.

Businesses that are planning to provide remote working facilities for staff, to allow them to work from home, need to be sure that staff can actually do so. The claims made by many providers would lead you to believe that delivering secure remote access to business critical applications, data and telephony should be easily achievable but the reality, especially in remote regions, could be quite different.

Ofcom's report shows that businesses cannot rely on consumer-grade services when implementing flexible working policies as part of their business continuity plans. At very least, they need to consider using ADSL lines or coaxial cable services to overcome the bandwidth issues created by contention on consumer broadband services."

UPDATE 29th July 2010

Comments from Zen Internet UK.

Zen Internet Statement

Zen Internet maintains its commitment to the Code of Practice. During the last few months we have actively participated in discussions with Ofcom and other ISP's to reach agreement on the wording within the Code.

We welcome the more focussed approach to the Principles within the Code, however there are areas in which wewe believe the Code could be more forceful, especially regarding Fair Usage Policies and Traffic Management.

Elfed Thomas at i3 Group, the fibre optic broadband specialists (Fibrecity), has added his thoughts.

Elfed Thomas, CEO of the i3 Group said:

"The latest UK broadband speeds are simply a result of the inadequate infrastructure that exists in this country, and the market is being constrained by three or four players who are misleading the public with the terminology of fibre to the home and speed. It must be very frustrating for consumers that are demanding faster upload and download speeds as more and more bandwidth hungry applications are developed for use in both a personal and professional capacity.

Even more frustrating is that consumers are apparently being duped into believing that they are buying faster broadband because it is being delivered over a fibre optic network when clearly it’s not.

It is impossible for such claims to be made to the public at large, as there are only small pockets of households that currently have true fibre to the home – though this will change with rollouts such as Fibrecity networks – these are the only consumers that will be experiencing true fibre optic superfast broadband.

It is imperative that the government’s plans for a broadband Britain consider what infrastructure will scale to consumer needs rather than build something that is suitable for needs right for now, but outdated before it is even finished. In my opinion, the only way to ensure guaranteed speeds for consumers is to build commercially viable, fibre to the home networks.

The government and local councils need to support proven commercial methods such as Fibrecity networks, as this will ensure the fast delivery of super fast fibre to the home networks and introduce more competition to the existing suppliers who are stifling customer choice and misleading the public."

Next up, communications provider NewNet has suggested that specialist providers can offer the solution to the current concerns raised by Ofcom.

NewNet's Sales Director, Paul Schneider, said:

"The fact is that the larger providers are promoting the highest speeds based on their volume and capacity as major players, but this is not always an accurate assessment - the speeds are dramatically affected by usage and location. We always provide each client with an individual assessment of the broadband speeds which takes into account their location and requirements and gives them a reality check in comparison to the “fast and unlimited” promises which are so prevalent in the advertising we all see.

The broadband industry is maturing, and we believe that as that happens, it will be viewed by individuals and businesses as a utility, and as such the priority will be on delivering high quality customer service. This means keeping promises, and this is where specialist providers can provide a model for the industry; we’ve been working on delivering a made-to-measure service and this approach ensures that customers are not misled in their expectations."

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27th July 2010 - UPDATE Average UK Broadband Speed Hits 5.2Mb and ofcom Toughens ISP Rules
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