SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Only one of top 12 ISPs raised listed speed after new truth-in-advertising rule.
Most broadband providers in the UK "have been forced to cut the headline speeds they advertise when selling deals" because of new UK rules requiring accurate speed claims, according to a consumer advocacy group.
"Eleven major suppliers have had to cut the advertised speed of some of their deals, with the cheapest deals dropping by 41 percent," the group wrote last week.
The analysis was conducted by Which?, a brand name used by the Consumers' Association, a UK-based charity that does product research and advocacy on behalf of consumers.
"BT, EE, John Lewis Broadband, Plusnet, Sky, Zen Internet, Post Office, SSE, TalkTalk, and Utility Warehouse previously advertised their standard (ADSL) broadband deals as 'up to 17Mbps,'" the group noted in its announcement on Saturday. "The new advertised speed is now more than a third lower at 10Mbps or 11Mbps."
"TalkTalk has completely dropped advertising speed claims from most of its deals," the consumer group also said. "Vodafone has also changed the name of some of its deals: Fibre 38 and Fibre 76 are now Superfast 1 and Superfast 2."
The new rules were implemented in May by the Committees of Advertising Practice, the UK ad industry's self-regulatory body. Which? said it had been "campaigning for an advertising change since 2013."
Previously, ISPs were allowed to advertise broadband speeds of "up to" a certain amount, even if only one in 10 customers could ever get those speeds, Which? wrote. "But the new advertising rules mean that at least half of customers must now be able to get an advertised average speed, even during peak times (8-10pm)," the group said.
The entry-level speed tiers were apparently the least accurate before the rule change. While advertised speeds dropped the most on entry-level tiers, there were drops in higher-speed tiers as well.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday August 07 2018, @07:53PM (4 children)
I understand that is a problem. But what most ISPs do is the equivalent of selling you a 128 GB memory when it only has a measly 32 GB of memory.
It doesn't matter whether we're talking about hardware or network bandwidth. Or gasoline, or butter or milk.
Why does the US not have strict requirements that a gallon is a gallon, and a Mbps is an Mbps?
Remember back in the day of AOL's Pave The Earth campaign? The goal of which was to sink the North American continent into the ocean under the weight of AOL floppy disks. They didn't not succeed. But they were able to get a lot of people to sign up to AOL. But AOL did not keep up it's capacity to accept inbound telephone calls. So people started complaining about too many busy signals. It came to a point where at least one attorney general was involved, who said something about this might be like selling 10,000 tickets to a theater that has only 3,000 seats, and that it would definitely be a crime that could be prosecuted. Soon after that AOL began expanding its capacity.
It seems like we've gone back to those bad old days. (For you young 'uns, this is back in the horse and buggy daze.)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 07 2018, @11:05PM (3 children)
> Why does the US not have strict requirements that a gallon is a gallon ...
We have this in NY state -- there is a county bureau of weights & measures (don't remember name) that randomly checks gas stations to make sure the pumps deliver the gallons indicated on the display. Same for scales in the produce dept at food stores. No idea if they are straight or crooked (maybe the inspectors are all being paid off?), but I have seem someone from this agency at a gas station, filling calibrated volumes from the pumps.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Wednesday August 08 2018, @12:38AM (2 children)
Most counties or states have such an authority. Gas station pumps, grocery store scales, taxi meters are measured and sealed by the authorities, and there are some very heavy fines and even jail time associated with violating these seals.
http://consumerservicesguide.org/articles/csg_california_weights_and_measures_office [consumerservicesguide.org]
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 08 2018, @02:35AM (1 child)
I want to invite one of these weights & measures inspectors to my house to check the cable speed, see if I'm getting what Spectrum (former Time Warner Cable) advertised!
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Wednesday August 08 2018, @04:30AM
I don't think they measure virtual items. That would be the realm of the FCC, and I am sure Ajit Pai would love to come provided the 'honorarium' was high enough to meet his hourly salary as a poster child for a telecom industry shill.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge