Despite promises of "unlimited" broadband, internet service providers (ISPs) will disconnect customers who are considered to be using their broadband "excessively", a study by independent price comparison service uSwitch.com has revealed.
The research revealed that 250,000 people switch broadband providers every month, but that 71 per cent of customers are unaware that their new "unlimited" broadband packages entail hidden "fair usage" policies, effectively placing a limit on the unlimited.
With the growing popularity of 'TV on demand', as well as computer game and film downloading services, it is estimated that more than nine million broadband users are at risk of having their service limited, suspended or terminated by providers who deem their usage excessive.
Steve Weller, head of communications services at uSwitch, said: "Quite simply, broadband companies should not be allowed to advertise an unlimited broadband service when, in reality, a limit exists. Even if the limit is high, as is the case with the majority of the services we have studied, the fact remains that it still exists and we are alarmed that nine million broadband users seem unaware of this.
"It appears that we are being, in the best case, dazzled, or in the worst case, misled by the glamorous, expensive advertising campaigns that we are currently seeing on our TVs. It could be argued that consumers are being led down the garden path and are being let down by the terms and conditions that lie hidden beneath the glitz."
The switching service has called for a standardisation of fair usage policies which fully quantify "excessive" usage and clearly define the policy for limiting, suspending or terminating the service provided to customers who go over this limit. It has also demanded that the term "unlimited" be banned from broadband advertising unless there are genuinely no restrictions in place, and that prior warnings to a service termination are made compulsory.
Orange cautioned over "unlimited" ad
Orange is the latest broadband provider to have been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), following the printing of a new magazine advert which marketed the firm's home broadband service as including "unlimited" downloads and calls.
Following an investigation, the ASA concluded that Orange had breached the code of conduct by making no mention in the small print of its 'fair usage' policies which prescribe 40 GB monthly download and 1,000 minute monthly calling limits. It was also found that Orange was capping customer's broadband speeds depending upon the amount of network traffic.
A spokesperson for the ASA commented: "We concluded that, because it did not include a reference to Orange's fair usage policies for both the talk service and the unlimited downloads, the ad was misleading."
In the last year, the ASA has banned the Carphone Warehouse from advertising "Free Broadband Forever" and cautioned broadband provider Be for suggesting that all customers can attain transfer speeds of 24 Mb/s.
Nearly 10,000 consumers signed an e-petition on the 10 Downing Street website in June, calling for an end "unlimited" broadband advertising, and the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) has urged its members to exercise caution over their use of the term.
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