buffalobill
Senior Member
14 February 2005
Sentech caught napping by ‘speedy’ ad claim
Lesley Stones
Information Technology Editor
DISGRUNTLED internet users, disappointed by the slow speed of Sentech’s connectivity, have forced the company to withdraw advertisements that make its offerings sound more impressive than they actually are.
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints that Sentech’s advertisements are misleading, as its wireless access services do not deliver the high speeds that they promise.
The complaint was lodged by six individuals who objected to Sentech’s advertisements and the use of phrases including “high speed” and “up to 512 kilobits a second of broadband”.
They complained that by calling its three services MyWireless 128, 256 and 512, Sentech was indicating how fast the connectivity would be. In reality, they said, it was internationally accepted that 128 kilobits a second was the lowest standard of broadband, so Sentech could not really claim to be offering a high-speed service.
In its defence, Sentech said 128 kilobits a second did qualify as a broadband service, and that its advertisements did not guarantee any particular speeds.
Sentech said that since the complaints were lodged it had installed network management software to improve the amount of bandwidth users were given.
In its ruling, the authority said it recognised Sentech’s efforts to improve its services and to alter its package names and advertising to exclude speed as a product name. Sentech was also instructed to make it clear that its services are shared by numerous users, so the performance is affected by the number of people on line.
Sentech caught napping by ‘speedy’ ad claim
Lesley Stones
Information Technology Editor
DISGRUNTLED internet users, disappointed by the slow speed of Sentech’s connectivity, have forced the company to withdraw advertisements that make its offerings sound more impressive than they actually are.
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints that Sentech’s advertisements are misleading, as its wireless access services do not deliver the high speeds that they promise.
The complaint was lodged by six individuals who objected to Sentech’s advertisements and the use of phrases including “high speed” and “up to 512 kilobits a second of broadband”.
They complained that by calling its three services MyWireless 128, 256 and 512, Sentech was indicating how fast the connectivity would be. In reality, they said, it was internationally accepted that 128 kilobits a second was the lowest standard of broadband, so Sentech could not really claim to be offering a high-speed service.
In its defence, Sentech said 128 kilobits a second did qualify as a broadband service, and that its advertisements did not guarantee any particular speeds.
Sentech said that since the complaints were lodged it had installed network management software to improve the amount of bandwidth users were given.
In its ruling, the authority said it recognised Sentech’s efforts to improve its services and to alter its package names and advertising to exclude speed as a product name. Sentech was also instructed to make it clear that its services are shared by numerous users, so the performance is affected by the number of people on line.
"Abusers" would be contacted, IIRC. Anyone here ??
