Broadband customers should be allowed to switch internet
service providers quicker and have a longer cooling off period
after signing contracts if they do not get the speeds they pay for,
an independent panel has told industry regulator
Ofcom.
The announcement comes days after Computer Weekly published its
article on the
problems businesses have with receiving broadband in rural
areas.
The Ofcom Consumer Panel, which advises Ofcom policy on behalf
of customers, said that growing complaints from businesses and
consumers about not receiving the broadband speeds they pay for
made the introduction of the measures necessary.
ISPs currently advertise speeds with the phrase "up to" prefixed
before a speed, for example, up to 8mbps. However, technical
issues, such as the number of users online at a given time, can
mean only a fraction of that speed is delivered.
In
a letter to Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards, Colette Bowe,
chairman of the Ofcom Consumer Panel, said ISPs should provide
information during and after the sales process about the actual
speeds, rather than the advertised speeds, customers are likely to
receive.
Customers should also be able to move freely to different
packages and providers without lock in to contracts where they are
not getting the advertised speeds.
"ISPs should contact the customer two weeks after installation
about the actual (rather than estimated) maximum line speed that
can be supported by their line. At this point customers should have
the penalty-free choice to move to another speed package based on
the information provided," said Bowe in the letter.
"If the actual maximum line speed is significantly lower than
the package to which they have signed up, the customer should also
have the penalty free option to terminate the contract and move to
another broadband provider."
ISPs have argued to the panel that the cost of acquiring
broadband customers is expensive and that they would be reluctant
to give customers a longer cooling off period.
Michael Philpott, principal analyst at Ovum, said a price based
on the bandwidth actually provided would be fairer.
"Perhaps a more sensible outcome would be for ISPs to recognise
that enough is enough and that their customers just do not like the
'up to' concept when it comes to broadband access, and therefore
perhaps it is time for a new tariff scheme altogether," he
said.