No broadband for Vodacom: ASA
Earlier this year the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) ruled that Vodacom’s services may not be advertised as broadband because Vodacom weren’t able to provide sufficient proof that they could achieve broadband speeds over their entire network.
Vodacom provided the ASA with a research report from Tony Savides, an Associate Director at Cyest, showing that in the total samples provided, 99.7% of the performance tests exceeded the target of 256 Kb/s – the current definition of broadband in South Africa.
The ASA was unimpressed and ruled that the mobile provider must withdraw the general reference to broadband with immediate effect and is not allowed to make such a general reference until “new substantiation has been submitted, evaluated, and a new ruling is made.”
Vodacom decided to take another stab at this ruling with another Cyest report (which showed that 93.05% of a comprehensive test across the entire Vodacom network exceeded the benchmark speed of 256 Kb/s), arguing that where 80% of the user base experienced coverage compliance it was previously deemed to be ‘substantiated,’ ‘not misleading’ and ‘not insignificant’ by the ASA.
“Together with the results of the three datasets as referred to above, we can conclude that due to Vodacom far exceeding the 80% benchmark, Vodacom’s ‘Broadband’ offering can be regarded as broadband in terms of accepted expectations,” Vodacom said.
The ASA remained unconvinced. In this ruling it said that Cyest was not SAMRA accredited or approved which effectively disqualifies its survey findings. “Accordingly, any reference to broadband in [Vodacom’s] advertisements is still not substantiated,” said the ASA.
This ruling however affects MTN and Cell C as well. Both of these operators face the same challenges as Vodacom in their use of the term broadband.
Broadband claims from mobile providers
Vodacom continues to market its Internet access as broadband. Its website states that with “Vodacom Broadband you can connect to the Internet with any computer connected to a 3G-enabled modem, or 3G-enabled cellphone at high data speeds.”
Vodacom continues with a statement which may well lead to an ASA complaint in future: “Without a doubt, you’ll get more Broadband for your Rand when you choose Vodacom Broadband.” After Cell C’s affordable HSPA+ offerings this statement may have to be revised.
MTN, like Vodacom, is also marketing its Internet access as MTN Broadband. The company’s website states that “By using MTN Broadband, you get high speed Broadband Internet access through our integrated network of HSDPA, HSUPA, 3G and EDGE technologies.”
Cell C goes one step further than calling its newly launched HSPA+ service broadband, and promises subscribers “up to 4G speeds.”
In its data guide, Cell C states that “Mobile Broadband from Cell C is powered by new generation mobile broadband technology (GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSPA+) offering up to 4G speeds.”
The way forward
It is clearly going to be an uphill battle for mobile providers to advertise their service using either speed guidelines or the term broadband. The ASA rulings regarding these claims may however start to hurt consumers rather than assist them.
It is desirable that consumers know exactly what they purchase, and while maximum technology speed claims may be misleading, it is of value to know what technology you will use to connect to a network.
Telkom has already succeeded in having an ASA broadband speed ruling overturned which allows it to advertise its services as ‘up to 384 Kbps’ or ‘up to 10 Mbps’ – giving a rough estimate of maximum speeds on the network.
In the absence of speed claims, mobile providers currently resort to technology descriptions like HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+ and even 4Gs. It may help everyone if they can just stipulate the technology and maximum speeds associated with these technologies in certain regions.
This issue is far from over. Vodacom and MTN challenged Cell C’s 4G and 4Gs claims, and both MTN and Cell C will now have to reconsider its use of the term broadband in its promotional materials.
No broadband for Vodacom: ASA << Comments and views
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