ASA sets ISPs deadline for speed claims

The Advertising Standards Authority has given marketers three months to clarify the claims they make about internet speeds. The body has asked internet service providers to spell out differences between download and upload speeds.

The move comes after a complaint about an ad for NTL’s 3 for &£30 package, shown on Broadband UK, a channel owned by NTL. The presenter of the advertorial claimed that NTL’s 300K broadband service was over five times quicker than a 56K dial-up connection.

The ASA found that the claim was misleading as the broadband service was only five times faster when downloading from the internet. The uploading speed was 150K.

The ASA has now published guidelines for making claims about upload and download speeds. It says the two must be differentiated.