It is estimated that UK households waste hundreds of pounds per year on TV, broadband and phone packages.
A report from the Post Office shows that families in particular who buy bundle deals do not watch all of the channels provided, buy more broadband that they need and have free calls they do not use.
Hugh Stacey, head of HomePhone for the Post Office said:
“While bundles can be tempting, this report shows they provide far more than the average person needs and millions of people are clearly paying for services they…
Selina Moses - 25 January 2013 | comments. Read more
Virgin Media hopes to reach new heights by teaming up with Olympic champion Mo Farah in order to promote its superfast speeds. You might remember that the cable giant also had Usain Bolt appear in a similar campaign.
The gold champion will be seen in both digital and printed advertising as a part of Virgin Media’s huge campaign.
The cable giant’s marketing executive director, Jeff Dodds, was quoted as saying in an accompanying statement that the firm was “delighted” to have an opportunity to work with Farrah. He said:
“Virgin Media is…
Edita Lozovska - 20 August 2012 | comments. Read more
In this corner we have Virgin Media trying to ban Sky’s “totally unlimited broadband” ad … And in this corner we have Sky trying to ban Virgin Media’s TiVO ads.
ASA decided to uphold Sky’s claims, yet Virgin Media did not succeed to convince the regulator that Sky was misleading the public with its ad.
You might have noticed that Sky often says that it is offering “truly unlimited” services as it does not apply any FUP (Fair Usage Policy) nor does it impose any monthly usage caps. It applies the…
Edita Lozovska - 18 July 2012 | comments. Read more
Broadbandwatcher would like to remind you that today is the final day that customers can take advantage of Sky’s latest promotion – 6 months free broadband for all new users along with a £25 Marks&Spencers voucher to use in the shops.
The good news is that this isn’t an overly lengthy contract to sign either – 12 months. This also includes speeds of up to 14Mbps, inclusive evening and weekend calls as well as unlimited access to the Cloud and a free wireless ‘N’ Router.
It also includes unlimited broadband (i.e….
Geoff Slaughter - 18 June 2012 | comments. Read more
No TalkTalk, BT’s Infinity ad shall not be pulled, said the ASA.
According to recent reports, TalkTalk has filed a complaint to the ASA saying that BT’s superfast fibre broadband ad could potentially be “misleading” as consumers may mistakenly start thinking that that fibre was only available via BT in the UK.
This is supposedly because the ad came with a tagline which stated: “Four times faster than average broadband: Infinity, only from BT”, special emphasis on the word “only” of course.
Neither BT nor the company that made the advertisement for…
Edita Lozovska - 23 May 2012 | comments. Read more
According to recent reports, Direct Save Telecom started providing the cheapest broadband and calls deal in the UK.
The package includes typical speeds of up to 13Mbps (theoretically up to 24Mbps), a 20GB monthly usage cap as well as inclusive weekend and evening phone calls. And now for the juicy bit: it costs £2.49 per month.
However, customers should be advised that those who may potentially take up the offer, will still be liable for paying line rental as well as signing a 24 month contract.
Customers will also be provided with…
Edita Lozovska - 2 May 2012 | comments. Read more
You might remember that the ASA has introduced new broadband advertising guidelines, hoping to give more information to the consumer regarding download speeds.
But according to recent reports, the new rules might confuse rather than enlighten the public, as an array of ISPs is reportedly finding it hard to adapt to the new guidelines.
Some smaller providers are yet to change their advertising, while others have chosen the O2 way to approach the issue and now advertise no speeds at all. In turn, customers can check the speeds they can expect…
Edita Lozovska - 3 April 2012 | comments. Read more
No, Virgin Media, your 50Mbps package is not “best for online gaming”, and you, Plusnet, why did you not mention your prices were heavily dependent on location, ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) said.
ASA has looked at quite a few complaints and decided to uphold the aforementioned ones, published in magazines (Virgin Media) and transmitted via radio (Plusnet).
ASA issued a statement regarding Plusnet’s ad and said that although the fact that “conditions apply” was mentioned, it did not clarify that only customers residing in the Market 3 zone could get their…
Edita Lozovska - 19 October 2011 | comments. Read more
Just when you started getting overly annoyed with misleading speeds, ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and CAP (Committee of Advertising Practice) come to the rescue.
Head of CAP, James Best, was reported as saying:
“Advertising is only effective if consumers trust the messages they see and hear. This guidance will help deliver that.”
Secretary of CAP, Shahriar Coupal, also said:
“We urge marketers to get to grips with the Help Notes and to ensure their future ad campaigns are in line with it.”
The two bodies have now officially revealed its new set guidelines regarding…
Edita Lozovska - 30 September 2011 | comments. Read more
It seems that upload speeds do matter – at least according to 93 per cent who were polled by ISPreview.
The aforementioned majority said that broadband providers should consider making upload speeds more visible in their ads.
Further findings signalled that 90 per cent (yes, that’s almost everyone) knew what their upload speeds were and almost a half (49.2 per cent) classified those as “very important” when thinking which broadband package to go for.
In more techy detail, upload speeds are a measure which shows how fast you…
Edita Lozovska - 12 September 2011 | comments. Read more
