[OSX-Users] Re: broadband speed and ofcom

[Tim Chown]

And uplink speed? /grumble

--
Tim

On 31 Mar 2010, at 09:32, "m.c. schraefel" <mc at ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:

> some of you may have seen this:
>
>
> http://www.citywire.co.uk/personal/-/news/money-property-and-tax/content.aspx?ID=391121
>
> Broadband providers are not up to speed, says watchdog
> By Victoria Bischoff | 10:50:29 | 30 March 2010
> Follow the Citywire team on Twitter at FullyInvested. Learn more here.
>
>
>
> Broadband providers must inform customers of their connection speed  
> before they sign up or face stricter regulation, consumer watchdog  
> Ofcom has warned.
> In a mystery shop 75% of shoppers were not informed the actual  
> broadband speed they were likely to receive would be below the  
> maximum speed advertised, Ofcom has revealed.
> And although 85% of the mystery shoppers were given a rough idea of  
> how fast their connection would be before signing up, almost half  
> had to prompt providers for this information late in the sale process.
> The news follows a report by Ofcom last year indicating that the  
> headline speed a broadband customer signs up for does not  
> necessarily represent the speed they receive, with only a fraction  
> of internet users receiving the speed they pay for.
> The watchdog has now announced plans to tighten its voluntary code  
> of practice on broadband speeds, and do more to ensure consumers are  
> given more consistent and accurate information about their broadband  
> service and speed before they buy.
> Ofcom hopes to agree changes to the code by the summer, and if an  
> agreement cannot be reached with internet service providers, it will  
> consider introducing formal regulations.
> Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive, said: 'Consumers are now  
> receiving more accurate information at the point of sale about their  
> broadband service. But our mystery shopping research reveals there  
> is still significant further progress to be made, particularly in  
> relation to the checkers used to calculate line speeds.'
> However Matthew Wheeler, communications expert at uSwitch.com, said:  
> 'It's deeply concerning that, in Ofcom's mystery shop, three out of  
> four customers were not informed that their actual speed was likely  
> to fall short of the advertised speed.'
> 'It's time for broadband companies to be more transparent at the  
> point of sale. The harder the line that Ofcom takes on this, the  
> better,' he added.
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