Ofcom, the UK's telecom regulator, wants to ensure that broadband speeds service providers are advertising are actually getting the speeds that consumers are actually getting.
New figures released by Ofcom revealed that there's a disparity between the 13.8 Mbps that wireline-based service providers advertise for their DSL services and the actual 6.2 Mbps consumers actually get when they log on to their respective network connections.
Ofcom plans to introduce a new ‘code of practice' in July that will require service providers to include in their top speed brochures a typical speeds range.
"Very few ADSL broadband customers achieved average actual download speeds close to advertised ‘up to' speeds. Just 3% of customers on up to 20 Mbps or 24 Mbps DSL services received average download speeds of over 16 Mbps, while 69% received average download speeds of 8 Mbps or less," Ofcom said in a statement.
BT (NYSE: BT) was one of the only service provider that actually came close to reaching its advertised speed. According to Ofcom's research, BT's fiber-based Infinity service had an average speed of 31 Mbps or 22 percent less that it advertises. Cable operators, however, had the upper hand on speed with Virgin Media's 50 Mbps offering delivering about 46 Mbps.
For more:
- TeleGeography has this article
Related articles:
BT is fulfilling its Fiber to the X dreams
BT Retail gives broadband bundle customers free fiber service upgrade
TalkTalk ramps up LLU coverage
U.K.'s TalkTalk gets high on fiber-based broadband