UK advertising body chides Orange

Orange told the ASA that its download service was subject to a fair usage policy and that the omission of a reference to that in the small print of the ad was a production error.

The ASA, however, retorted that Orange had twice previously used this excuse and has yet again failed to draw attention to the limits on its so-called 'Unlimited' packages.

Orange also claimed that only 1.09 per cent of its broadband users ever breach the fair usage terms.

Not wearing Orange's excuses, the SAS found that the company had breached the advertising code on truthfulness and now has to ensure that the details of its fair usage policy are included in all future advertising.

Which will definitely cheer up one INQ reader - Jeff of York. He was commenting on a previous INQ story which had pointed out a similar not-so-unlimited offering from Virgin Media. See here.

Jeff wrote, " I wonder - is there anything we can do to stop this false advertising? I use Orange Broadband who are very keen to advertise they have 'unlimited' broadband, whereas many rivals are just honest and say, "You can download XX amount per month.

"The problem is, nowhere on their site do they state what the real value of "unlimited" really is. How do I know when I'm going over their unwritten limit?

"And furthermore, why are they allowed to advertise unlimited when it's clearly not unlimited? Grrrr...."

Well, Jeff, Orange isn't allowed to do so any more. Can we now expect rivals to follow suit? µ

See also
The INQ's too harsh on Virgin Media

L'INQ
ASA