‘Unlimited limits’ cause confusion
November 27, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Research from uSwitch.com has shown that 86% of broadband users still find service limits confusing. Worryingly, approximately 6 million customers think that they have an unlimited broadband service and about 7 million people have no idea what their limit is. This confusion has caused some customers to either reach or surpass their limits.
Last month, Sky attempted to reduce such confusion by introducing the first genuinely unlimited service. The revolutionary Broadband Max service is unusual in the world of broadband, since Sky removed the fair usage policy from its terms and conditions. Most broadband providers still advertise their packages as unlimited whilst continuing to impose limits in reality. The frustrating thing is that the Advertising Standards Authority currently lets providers unfairly describe their packages as long as the details are stated in the small print. As we all know, most consumers never read fair usage policies and some do not even know what they are.
The Head of Communications at uSwitch.com, Tim Wolfenden, believes that the solution to the confusion lies in preventing broadband companies from classing their packages as unlimited if they do actually have limits. He was also quick to point out the importance of this happening quickly, since broadband usage levels are increasing all the time as a result of more people using services such as on-demand television. Wolfenden also urged consumers to read all the terms and conditions thoroughly before purchasing any broadband package and was quick to praise Sky for leading the way in removing fair usage policies and making their services transparent.
