Ofcom eyes broadband code move

Telecoms companies would be banned from issuing misleading advertisements about broadband download speeds under proposals published on March 2. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, is calling for changes to the advertising code of practice after finding a yawning gap between several Internet service providers’ advertised download speeds and the actual speeds consumers receive. In a new survey, Ofcom found the average advertised download speed in the UK was 13.8 megabits per second at the end of last year, but the actual speed experienced by consumers was 6.2 mbps. The disparity, which Ofcom said increased over the past two years, stems from the format of several providers’ marketing and technology underpinning many broadband connections. Some telecoms companies sell broadband packages where download speeds of “up to” a certain level are advertised.