Broadband speed less than expected? Cancel without a fee

You may soon be able to cancel your broadband contract early without paying a fee if your speed falls below a guaranteed minimum, as part of a new range of consumer rights proposed by telecoms regulator Ofcom. It wants internet service providers (ISPS) signed up to its code of practice to clearly state what the minimum should be before a customer agrees to a contract.

Ofcom has pledged to end the “mismatch” in speeds advertised. The changes could lead to ISPS publicising the minimum speed, rather than the ‘up to’ speed, which many customers find misleading.

If the speed falls below the minimum, ISPS would have a month to fix it before allowing customers to switch contract without a fee (currently there’s no time limit). For the first time this ‘right to exit’ would also apply to broadband contracts that included phone and pay-tv services.

Ofcom also wants ISPS to be more realistic about speeds customers can get, particularly what they can expect at peak times (8-10pm) when providers ‘throttle’ connections to cope with demand. At present ISPS need only give an estimate of speed.

The regulator points out that the new rules will greatly benefit Virgin Media customers receiving broadband through cables because throttling is a major problem on this type of network.

The proposals were welcomed by Gillian Guy, head of Citizens Advice, who said: “These changes are an important step in giving consumers more power to hold their broadband provider to account for poor service”.

However, Andrew Glover, chairman of the Internet Services Providers’ Association, said that some factors slowing speeds are “outside the control of the provider”. These include Wi-fi speed around the home and the age of the computer.

Ofcom will hold a public consultation with all interested parties until 10 November. Get more information on its site: www.snipca.com/25903.