Let's not cut off our nose to spite our interface - Arron Rouse
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BT rapped over fibre optic broadband lie
UK TELCO and Internet service provider (ISP) British Telecom (BT) has been given a rap on the knuckles by advertising regulators after it was judged to have misled customers into thinking fibre optic broadband does not have any latency.
The problem centered on the way BT used the word 'instant' in describing the time it took for a user to get online in a few seconds.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it was misleading because even though the BT Infinity service might be faster, there would be some delays.
In defending itself, BT presented a list of speedy times it believed that it took to complete various Internet activities such as uploading and downloading video on its fibre optic network.
The ASA expressed its doubt in the authenticity of BT's claims by saying, "we also noted that we had not seen evidence that substantiated those times, or that showed what speeds could be achieved by customers using BT's fibre optic broadband."
It also said that the speeds were not proven to be achievable by customers at times of high user demand and with non-optimal computer set-ups.
Using the word 'instant' in an ad is an easy mistake to make, and in the end only four people did bother to complain about it.
But the fact BT couldn't prove the speeds that it quotes for fibre optic broadband is much more concerning, as punters are too well used to lower speeds than advertised from the current services offered by ISPs. µ
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bt should be rapped for general misconduct and harrassment
before i ditched them, they gave me 5 working days to pay my bill by post - the period commenced from the day they sent it out so i kept getting 3 or 4 days to pay - over a weekend!!
absolute scum. if i saw any part of their infrastructure under threat, i would turn the other cheek and consider it appropriate karma. they also cold call touting for my cash so i just give them the rape alarm treatment. they deserve more.
i only care to see them suffer, any other information is not news to me
Are Virgin Media still getting away with the lie that they provide 'fibre broadband'
Don't get me wrong here, the service itself is ok, but it's a feckin' co-ax cable that runs from their street cabinet to my house, not a fibre, and I've been told that it most probably isn't a fibre driving that cabinet either..fairly easy to check though, I'll wait for the next time the local Neds open it up again and have a looksee..
This is an example of what happens when advertising wonks don't (or, more probably/truthfully, won't) run stuff they don't understand (and hey, they don't need nor care to understand it) by engineers/techies before they feed it to the public.
As advertising is 99% bullshit they'd hate for something as inconvenient as truth stand in the way of good copy.
I think Blighty broadband is on par with Albania .. where I'm sure they use strings and cups.
ofc they wouldnt tell you that unless you got fibre to your modem, you are still getting latency from the copper cabling from the cabinet.
but then again ..99% of brits couldnt tell their modem from their elbow, so BT will win.