ASA raps BT over fibre adverts

BT launched the following advert over their 'Infinity' fibre based broadband services (nicked from The Guardian by the way):The advertising attracted complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) with complainants (rightly) stating that users still had to wait for a download - even on faster broadband services, and the ASA has ruled in their favour despite a laughable attempt from BT to compare it to instant coffee and hair removal creams, which consumers appreciate still result in a wait.

In their ruling the ASA said:

The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claims "Upload and share high quality photos and videos instantly", "Download your favourite music instantly", "Enjoy multiple websites and online content instantly" and "Stream HD movies and TV shows instantly", as well as "The birth of the instant internet", to mean that BTs fibre optic broadband could deliver the listed activities straightaway, or with no noticeable delay.

We noted that BT had provided a list of the times they believed it would take to complete the activities stated in the ad, using their fibre optic broadband. However, we also noted that we had not seen evidence that substantiated those times, or that showed what speeds could be achieved by customers using BTs fibre optic broadband, and that those speeds would be achievable by customers at times of high user demand and with non-optimal computer set-ups.

We noted the three customer profiles and two videos submitted by BT, however, we did not consider that profiles and testimonials alone were sufficient to substantiate claims relating to the speed of a broadband service. Because we had not seen evidence to support the claims made in the ad, we concluded that it was misleading.

The ASA have instructed them not to use the advert again, and it only goes to back up the calls from competitors like Virgin Media and O2 for a more 'honest' approach to broadband advertising - something that the ASA is currently looking into.