| If the slew of adverts that are already arriving to try | | | | of up to 50Mb so an ordinary ADSL connection, which |
| and sell us consumer electronics and technology in | | | | is what's being referred to above, certainly wouldn't |
| preparation for the world cup are anything to go by | | | | qualify. |
| then we're in for a good few months of broadband | | | | That brings us to the second suspect phrase in the |
| adverts. | | | | mix 'up to'. Up to should mean the highest speed |
| Broadband advertising has long been a divisive issue | | | | technically available using the technology available but |
| with a wide - and, some would argue, widening - gap | | | | the ones set by broadband providers are often not |
| between what's being promised and what is actually | | | | available in any circumstances. Thus, the broadband |
| being delivered. This is most particularly the case in the | | | | advertiser is technically offering something impossible, |
| most competitive markets - for example, those | | | | albeit deliverable to some extent it could never be |
| companies that are offering the cheapest broadband | | | | fulfilled in full. Finally, we come to the third way in which |
| deals and those that are offering the fastest | | | | broadband adverts commonly deceive us: comparing |
| broadband deals. | | | | apples and oranges. This is particularly the case where |
| In the case of these markets there is a generally | | | | two providers are quite similar - so with Sky or Virgin, |
| agreed upon stance of weasel words - these are | | | | for example. |
| most often misleading but technically correct. For the | | | | In this case, the broadband provider often claims to be |
| sake of argument, let's say that there are three main | | | | a certain amount less expensive than their rival but if |
| ways that broadband providers do this. However, it | | | | we look a little. There is, finally, a certain warning about |
| could be argued that there are far more. To start off, | | | | these warnings themselves. While we can rightly or |
| let's take this phrase: "These superfast broadband | | | | wrongly regard broadband advertising as at times |
| deals come with a speed of up to 8Mb." | | | | sneaky or even downright underhand adverts are |
| Now, superfast is a real weasel word for the | | | | checked on a regular basis by the ASA. Broadband |
| broadband industry. It essentially is now used to mean | | | | providers have been caught out by them especially on |
| 'fast' or if not exactly 'fast' then 'working'. | | | | the last point but in general these advertisers aren't |
| In a technical sense, some groups use superfast to | | | | doing anything illegal: just using a language which may |
| refer to types of cable broadband which give speeds | | | | take some deciphering. |