Not the Broadest Band
Telkom’s Do Broadband advertising campaign was on the wrong side of an Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) ruling recently.
The Telkom Do Broadband advertising campaign says: “Do The Broadband Band from R199.00 per month*” and contains the wording:
–10 gigabytes local usage free (on Do Broadband Level 1)
–20 gigabytes local usage free (on Do Broadband Level 2)
–30 gigabytes local usage free (on Do Broadband Level 3)
The advertisement disclaimer reads: “Terms and Conditions: Fast DSL is based on 384kbps broadband technology. Excludes line rental and voice calls. The local usage applied once the original internet account has reached its limit.”
This advertisement did not go down well with a Mr Pretorius who complained that the price of R199 applies to DSL 384 which was the “least broadband available”.
He further felt that there was not a clear enough indication that the “free” local bandwidth only applied after the monthly usage limit was reached, giving the false impression that local bandwidth was “free” from the start.
Pretorius asked the ASA to impose sanctions on Telkom as this was not the first time the company has overstepped the boundaries of the advertising code.
Telkom hit back, saying that it was up to the reader to read the whole advertisement. Telkom further said that the term “broadest band” did not only refer to speed, but a culmination of speed, usage, price per megabyte and value-adds.
Telkom undertook to inform readers more clearly that the free local bandwidth would only apply after their “blended bandwidth” limit was reached.
The ASA was however not entirely happy with this commitment from Telkom, saying that it did not adequately address the concerns of Pretorius.
The ASA was also not convinced that the term “broadest band” referred to a culmination of speed, usage, price per megabyte and value-adds, and said that “The Broadband Band” would primarily be linked to speed in the mind of consumers.
The advertising authority said that consumers would not get “the broadest band” from the advertised price of R199 a month which is for a DSL 384 service.
“Even if some consumers correctly interpret the advertisement in the manner intended by the respondent, it means that the advertisement is at best ambiguous, which is not acceptable in terms of the code,” the ASA stated.
The ASA subsequently ruled that “The Broadband Band” advertisement was misleading and in breach of the advertising code.
Telkom was ordered to withdraw this advertisement with immediate effect and not to use it again in future in its current format.
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