Virgin Media boss Tom Mockridge says the advertising regulator needs to consider both price and speed in its review of the broadband market.
In a blog post, Mockridge said the cablenet would work with the ASA to ensure the right guidelines were in place. However he said it was important for the ASA to consider the “whole deal”
“Dating back to 2011, the ASA rules allow companies advertise a headline broadband speed if it is available to only 10% of customers,” he said. “If the ASA is serious it should ensure consumers can compare broadband deals on the things that really matter, and this includes speed.”
Mockridge admitted that there were times when for technical reasons every provider would not be able to meet the top speed, but quoted a Which report that found only 7% of customers using ADSL services could get their advertised maximum speeds, while 98% of Virgin Media customers could receive advertised maximum speeds. In fact, the average maximum speeds delivered on our network were faster than the advertised speeds. However, other elements of the report did not treat Virgin or its competitors so favourably.