back to article Does anyone know what their broadband costs? The ASA hopes to change that

Blighty's advertising regulator has vowed to clamp down on "misleading" broadband advertising prices, following its findings that three in four people are unable to work out true cost of broadband deals. The Advertising Standards Authority said the move is a response to joint research with Ofcom, which found the current …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    3D & Hoverboards

    Still waiting for them to stop companies advertising Stereoscopic tellies as '3D tellies' and those two wheeled death traps as 'Hoverboards'......THEY DON'T HOVERRRRRAARRGGHHHH.......

    1. Haku

      Re: 3D & Hoverboards

      On top of all that I still don't have the wiiings I was promised.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 3D & Hoverboards

        @Haku - and I can't roller-skate. 'Nuff said.

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: 3D & Hoverboards

      "Stereoscopic tellies as '3D tellies'"

      But mine is 3D. It has height, width and depth. It's even 4D. It was there this morning and it's still here now.

      1. Lee D Silver badge

        Re: 3D & Hoverboards

        By that definition, The Beano is a 3D comic.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Re: 3D & Hoverboards

      Crikey, that could almost have been posted by me, AC. Have a pint!

    4. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

      Re: 3D & Hoverboards

      Hoverboards don't hover, but sometimes they do quite pleasingly catch fire.

    5. drand
      Trollface

      Re: 3D & Hoverboards

      They only do it because they can't advertise them as Twatboards before the watershed.

      1. TRT Silver badge

        Re: 3D & Hoverboards

        @drand. But can they advertise them as waterboards before the twatshed?

    6. Martin Summers Silver badge

      Re: 3D & Hoverboards

      Never mind that, how about the fragrant misuse of 'Unlimited'. If you want to pick a fight with something misleading you'd think that'd be one of them.

  2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "Does anyone know what their broadband costs?"

    I find it very easy. I buy line rental and broadband from a different supplier so all I have to do is look at my monthly payment. It makes it much easier to change ISP when, for instance, they get bought by TalkTalk or Sky. By having my own domain I can use a different email hosting business so I can change email supplier if they have unexplained outages*.

    I think the ASA is barking up the wrong tree here. It's not that bundling disguises prices** it's that it means users are locked in because changing everything at once is too much hassle.

    * I'm not sure if my previous host was even paying enough attention to be aware they had outages. They never even responded to my raising tickets.

    **The entire premise of their argument is wrong. You're not buying broadband as such, you're buying a bundle. You can see what the price is; it's the price you pay for the bundle. What they should be looking at is the possibility that you also have to pay for stuff you don't even want such as unemployables kicking a facsimile of an inflated pig's bladder up and down a field.

    1. JamesPond
      FAIL

      Re: "Does anyone know what their broadband costs?"

      Yes I do, £45 per month for FTTH at 75Mbps and 750Gb data per calendar month plus unlimited local phone calls, reduced rates to certain near but not local STDs and national and international rates elsewhere. There may be (probably are) better deals in the rest of the UK but in the Peoples Republic of Kingston Communications upon Hull, there is no other choice (no BT, no SKY etc.). Regular testing averages 60Mbps at peak and 145Mbps off-peak.

      I was paying £35 per month for 'upto 8Mbps' but was lucky to get 2Mbps and it normally ran at <1Mbps. So in this case I knew what I was paying for, just not getting anywhere near what I was paying for This is what the ASA should be investigating!

    2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: "Does anyone know what their broadband costs?"

      You can see what the price is; it's the price you pay for the bundle.

      That's true after the fact. I think the concern is that when looking at the ads, the headline price like "5.99/month" is misleading, since it doesn't cover the extras like line rental (a monthtly charge, but cheaper bught in advance) and of course that headline price is only valid for some unspecified number of months after which it will go up to, say, 29.99, unless you also get your TV and/or phone from them, etc.

      If you're thinking of changing supplier it's not at all easy to compare old with new.

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: "Does anyone know what their broadband costs?"

        If you're thinking of changing supplier it's not at all easy to compare old with new.

        That is a difficult one, as you really need to firstly compare your existing package to what your supplier is offering for the next 1~2 years and so understand the price increases and package changes and then compare this to the competition.

        This is a point I learnt from an energy comparison website, as many people forget that their deal expires and so what they will be paying in the future (if they did nothing) would most likely be more than they are currently paying.

        1. chris 17 Silver badge

          Re: "Does anyone know what their broadband costs?"

          @ Roland6

          the comparison sites are mandated to provide iffy results anyway.

          if your deal is set to run out in 6 months they calculate any savings on a new tariff like this

          current rate for x months

          then providers standard rate for 12 - X months

          vs new provider for 12 months.

          so if your current tariff is cheaper than the new tariff but the providers standard rate is much worse the calculation will look like you need to swap immediately to save when in fact your best waiting till your current cheap deal expires and swap then.

          the cheapenergy club by mse actually shows does 3 calculations for you, 1 assuming your current rates lasts 12 months, 1 following ofgems rules and 1 assuming your cheap deal is ended and your on your providers standard rate.

          they really should stop mandating customers roll onto standard rates at the end of the term, instead they should allow customers to perpetually roll onto the providers cheapest rates.

    3. ad47uk

      Re: "Does anyone know what their broadband costs?"

      I am glad you find it easy and no doubt most people replying on this site will find it easy, but there are people out there that do not understand the pay structure of broadband.

      I do think it is about time the market was cracked down on and that prices are made easier to understand.

      BT and Talk Talk are the worse, Talk Talk as to get fibre you have to get Simply broadband, then their line rental and then pay for Fibre on top, Bt because they have too many broadband packages.

      I am so glad you can separate your broadband from your line rental, but not many large providers do that, Plusnet does, but you pay a bit more for your broadband. It is normally smaller suppliers that allow you to have broadband while you paying someone else for line rental, but you pay a price in that the smaller supplier is more expensive.

      To be honest, Ik would like it if all providers offered just broadband and allowed us to get line rental separately.

  3. TRT Silver badge

    Nah. I gave up...

    trying to understand the ISPs ads. Especially the crap-laden BT ones which don't make sense from a tech point of view, let alone a financial one.

    But I do understand the adverts for GoCompare, CompareTheMeerkat, USwitch, BroadBandChoices etc. They pay people to do the sums and read the small print for me, providing I bear in mind that there could be a bias from all the kickbacks...

    Now which one should I use?

    Is there a comparison site for comparison sites?

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Nah. I gave up...

      Re: Comparison websites

      The way you approach these depends on just how much you would like to save...

      Personally, I've tended to start at MoneySavingExpert because they tend to have articles about the current offers, plus some reviews of the comparison websites.

      I've then used the comparison websites to get a list of current offers and prices for my address, from which I've selected some and researched them on the individual provider's websites.

      I've also visited TopCashBack.co.uk to see if there are any cashback offers I can take advantage of.

      I draw up a shortlist of deals and their purchasing route to determine which one is the best and how to get the best overall deal.

      Whilst I'm doing the above, I expect to receive emails and/or phone calls with offers that improve on the web quotes; in the case of phone calls this gives you an opportunity to have the deal sweetened...

      Obviously if you have multiple sites you have to do much of the above for each site, in these circumstances it is worth getting on the phone to your shortlisted suppliers and negotiate...

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When are they going to clamp down on "I can't believe it's not butter"?

    I can categorically state it is not butter has never been butter and will never be butter and furthermore I deplore the use of double negatives. Just call it "It's not butter" and have done with it.

    Just another example of the ASA's incompetence.

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Somebody couldn't believe it wasn't butter.

      They know better now.

    2. Martin Summers Silver badge

      Or "It's not butter but it tastes a bit like it" if we are to stay within the spirit of the ridiculously long product name.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate UPGRADE Limited Numbered Signature Edition?

  5. Yugguy

    Mr Parker

    I heard him on R5 this morning.

    When asked what the ASA would actually DO if the providers didn't simplify their pricing, he was rather vague.

  6. AMBxx Silver badge
    Coat

    Adverts?

    What are they then?

    Mine's the one with the bullet-proof adblocker.

  7. NotWorkAdmin

    Funnily enough...

    I got criticised for even suggesting this on a previous article. If they could also rip out the use of the word "unlimited" things might be a little clearer.

    Footnote: I know none of this complex pricing confuses me, or most of the people who read the register. I also know that myself and the rest of you lot are NOT normal people.

    1. FredBloggs61

      Re: Funnily enough...

      Can't see what the criticism was for?

      Unlimited is in the freakin dictionary.

      not limited or restricted in terms of number, quantity, or extent.

      "offshore reserves of gas and oil are not unlimited"

      synonyms: inexhaustible, limitless, illimitable, boundless, unbounded, immense, vast, great, extensive, immeasurable, incalculable, untold, unfailing, everlasting, infinite, endless, never-ending, bottomless, measureless, inestimable, cosmic

      1. NotWorkAdmin

        Re: Funnily enough...

        The criticism was for suggesting they really ought to publish the price including line rental if line rental is not optional.

        Not sure how my saying the use of the word unlimited, which neither does nor can apply to the amount of data transfer physically possible, is in any way related to my not understanding of it's definition. I would humbly suggest the exact opposite is true.

    2. AustinTX

      Re: Funnily enough...

      It was a big surprise to me when the ISPs proposed that "unlimited" meant only that I had their blessing to use my service at any time of day and for any length of time within the billing period. Provided I didn't use up my ration of megabytes, of course.

  8. Avatar of They
    WTF?

    Wow, ASA stating the bleeding obvious.

    All prices should include the landline tax. Not make it a stupid optional extra as you can't not have it.

    Ofcom should make the landline tax optional. If I want fibre with BT (or VM or Sky), I don't want to have to pay 15.99 (or whatever) a month for the privilege of a phone I don't use. I only answer for cold calling because the tp line never works either.

    There should be very clear (font 48 in black on a white background) I can't remember when an advert didn't have white text you can't read in the half a second of white text in font 8 on a white background at the bottom. The last one I read for the new DS4 says leather dashboard not available in UK. So why advertise it there then.

    Same as BT saying you CAN GET, should advertise average or realistic speeds not what you know you won't get. Price accordingly. I may get 76Mbs with BT, realistically I might hit 40. So pay for 40 because you are then paying over the odds at 6PM when it shuts down because everyone is online, and making a profit when you are awake playing online at 3AM and get 76 because it is just you.

    OFCOM and ASA are useless, but a step in the right direction

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Wow, ASA stating the bleeding obvious.

      Ah, but with Virgin, you can get the phone line for £15.99 in which case, you can claim the multi-service discount which reduces your broadband-only price by £15.99.

    2. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Wow, ASA stating the bleeding obvious.

      All prices should include the landline tax. Not make it a stupid optional extra as you can't not have it.

      But for some ISPs it is optional extra: you can either keep your BT phone contract and simply lay their broadband over this, in wich case they will charge you £x pcm for the broadband. If however you switch to their phone service then the price is £y+phone line. Naturally in the headline pricing they will omit to say whether the price quoted is: annual upfront, monthly DDR, etc. these details will be contained in the small print.

      Basically, if you are seriously looking to change provider the ad's are just there to catch your eye, you first go to the comparison websites and then the providers you've identified and do a few sums. It's exactly the same with energy providers, it's only by looking at the details are you able to confirm just how they arrived at the quoted price and hence understand both the normal/full price and the discounts that have been applied.

      Interestingly when I switched to fibre from EE, what gave me a big on-going saving was ensuring I moved my Orange mobile phone to EE BEFORE the broadband, so that I could get the 'existing EE customer' deal - can't see that level of detail being included in an eye catching ad...

    3. Steven Jones

      Re: Wow, ASA stating the bleeding obvious.

      Idiot comment. The voice bit isn't costing you anything. What you are paying for is the copper loop connecting you to the MSAN. The wholesale rate for a basic copper loop and and that including a voice service are now virtually the same (and in real terms have been reducing in price over time) and the SPs throw the voice service in as a way of getting more revenue (by call charges and/or call bundles). That SPs put a markup on the wholesale line rental and use it to subsidise the cost of the headline broadband cost is the point of the article.

      I'd invite you to imagine what you will connect your xDSL modem to if there is no line in place. Good luck with that one.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Wow, ASA stating the bleeding obvious.

        Removal of the copper line causes a fairly sharp drop off in data throughput.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wow, ASA stating the bleeding obvious.

      " I may get 76Mbs with BT, realistically I might hit 40. So pay for 40 because you are then paying over the odds at 6PM when it shuts down because everyone is online,"

      The cost of providing the services is the same. If ISPs were ordered to reduce the price where a higher bandwidth couldn't be delivered they'd simply not sell broadband to those homes. I'm not sure that's what you want them to do.

  9. Jock in a Frock

    Free!!!!

    My broadband costs nothing, nada, zilch, zero, bugger all. No line rental, no call costs, no hidden extras

    The perks of working for a telco. :)

    1. Warm Braw

      Re: Free!!!!

      >My broadband costs nothing

      Except your soul. The hazards of working for a telco. :)

    2. Martin Summers Silver badge

      Re: Free!!!!

      I would just say they are stopping the payment at source personally. I hope for your sake it's not TalkTalk you work for.

  10. spiny norman

    Proof at last

    >> Parker said .... because advertising works better when it’s trusted ....

    So advertising doesn't work then.

  11. JJKing

    Unlimited Plan Bullshit

    I think it was Dodo ISP in OZ that got fined for having Unlimited on their plans. The fine print said 75MB per month then throttled to 56 or 128KB. Imagine Windows 10 invading your PC at that speed.

    So the Plans are not just an issue in Blighty but world wide. Mobile/Cell phone plans are also bloody confusing.

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