Firms cut advertised broadband speeds

MOST broadband providers have been forced to cut their advertised speeds following a recent rule change.

Which? analysis of the biggest broadband providers found that 11 have had to cut the advertised speed of some of their deals since the new rules came into effect in May, with the cheapest deals dropping by an average 41%.

BT, EE, John Lewis Broadband, Plusnet, Sky, Zen Internet, Post Office, SSE, TalkTalk and Utility Warehouse previously advertised their standard broadband deals as “up to 17Mbps” but the new advertised speed is now more than a third lower at 10Mbps or 11Mbps, Which? said.

Under the tougher rules, home broadband providers must now ensure that at least 50% of their customers can achieve advertised speeds at peak time.

They had previously been allowed to advertise “up to” speeds as long as they were available to a minimum of just 10% of customers. Only Virgin Media’s advertised speeds had gone up since the change.

Before the new rules came into effect, Which? found evidence that British households were paying for broadband services that were on average 51% slower than advertised.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home services, said: “Customers will now have a much clearer idea of the speeds that can be achieved when they are shopping around for broadband.”

A National Infrastructure Commission spokesman said: “Our National Infrastructure Assessment endorses a move to full fibre broadband which could help guarantee that customers get the speeds they pay for.”