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Sky Starts Legal Challenge to Virgin Media UK Stop the Broadband Con Campaign

Posted: 24th Mar, 2011 By: MarkJ
best broadband virgin media uksky broadbandBSkyB ( Sky Broadband ) has instructed its lawyers (Osborne Clarke) to help pressurise the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) into investigating a controversial campaign, called 'Stop the Broadband Con', which was setup by Virgin Media UK last November 2010 (here). The campaign called upon rival broadband ISPs to "stop advertising speeds that not a single customer can receive" (e.g. "up to" 24Mbps).

The campaign was accompanied by a website, www.stopthebroadbandcon.org, which urged frustrated web users to make their voice heard and support calls for all ISPs to publish realistic speeds. The somewhat self promotional tool played to Virgin's strength as a cable operator (ignoring its own DSL Virgin.net services), which allows it to deliver significantly faster performance than their DSL based rivals.
Ofcom's March 2011 Broadband Speed Research

Advertised Package Type - (Average actual speed)
'Up to' 8/10Mbit/s DSL packages* (3.4Mbit/s)
'Up to' 20/24Mbit/s DSL packages (6.2Mbit/s)

'Up to' 10Mbit/s Cable Modem services (9.6Mbit/s)
'Up to' 20Mbit/s Cable Modem services (18.0Mbit/s)
'Up to' 50Mbit/s Cable Modem services (45.8Mbit/s)

'Up to' 40Mbit/s FTTC services (31.8Mbit/s)
Since then the ASA has launched a new consultation to tackle the question of how broadband ISP speeds should be advertised. Included in that are a number of proposals to help clarify or possibly even ban the use of "up to" under certain situations (here). As a result Virgin Media's campaign, which received over 15,000 signatures, has since been cooled down.

However, none of this appears to have dampened Sky's frustration, not least after one of Virgin's YouTube videos described Sky's service as "poxy". A leaked legal letter shows that the operator believes Virgin Media's campaign to have been "grossly misleading" and warned of its ability to "dishonestly deceive consumers".

A Sky Broadband Spokesperson said:

"All ISPs provide individual line speed estimates before any customer signs up, meaning consumers are making informed decisions about which broadband services are right for them. In helps explain the high broadband satisfaction levels Ofcom found in its own research. On that basis, we've asked the ASA to investigate Virgin Media's campaign, which it now is."

A Virgin Media Spokesperson responded:

"Thousands of internet users have all reiterated our call for change and we look forward to Sky and BT stepping up to the challenge and being honest about their broadband rather than relying on the fairytales and broken promises of current adverts."

BT has lodged a similar complaint to Sky's. Admittedly some of the language used by Virgin's campaign might not have been the most sensible, although thousands of consumers clearly felt strongly enough about the issue to support them. Ironically the ASA's current consultation somewhat suggests that the advertising watchdog feels the same way. Not to mention Ofcom's support for similar measures.

In any case the ASA doesn't actually have any real power to punish firms that step out of line, beyond a brief slap on the wrist and a removal request for promotions that will have all too often finished a long time ago.
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