MWEB uncapped ADSL claims put to the test
MWEB launched its affordable uncapped ADSL offerings in March 2010 which changed the local ADSL ISP market for good.
Despite many competing uncapped ADSL products emerging soon after MWEB’s announcement, they remain the preferred provider when it comes to uncapped consumer ADSL services.
Not everyone is happy though. Mr Willem Heunis lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of South Africa, arguing that MWEB “does not allow 24/7 usage connection.”
Heunis objected to the MWEB advertisement which promotes its “Bigtime Broadband Uncapped” product which offers “Unlimited internet access for a fixed monthly price varying from R219.00 to R899.00.”
MWEB lists some of the benefits as “Use as much data as you like”; “FAST always-on internet access”; and “Ideal for video calling, downloads and running a small office.”
The advertising guides the interested customer through three steps involving choosing a connection speed, choosing the packaging (either “MWEB All Inclusive” or “Data only”) and placing an order.
Under “Step 3. Buy now” it lists the product as, inter alia, “Uncapped data” and “Shaped service.” Right near the bottom of the page it has a heading “Is it really uncapped?” and the answer “Yes it is. Unlimited data, all the time.”
Complaints
Heunis complained that the MWEB advertisement is misleading as the ISP “does not allow 24/7 usage connection and holds especially draconian policies towards using the connection full-time.”
Heunis added that MWEB actively shapes the “product’s bandwidth throughput to such levels that the service becomes unusable.”
“This invalidates their ‘unlimited data, all the time’ mantra,” argues Heunis. He added that despite the claim that the product is “Ideal for video calling, downloads and running a small office” he is unable to do video calling during the day, and downloading is constantly proving impossible.
MWEB responds
Attorneys Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyer, on behalf of MWEB, responded that its new product Bigtime Broadband Uncapped is essentially an “uncapped’ and “shaped” service.
MWEB added that Heunis has not provided any evidence that they do not provide a “full-time” internet connection or that its usage policies are draconian. “We are therefore unable to respond to these vague allegations,” MWEB said.
MWEB continued with an explanation of their uncapped service offerings and related definitions, including an opinion from independent expert Dominic Cull from Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions who substantiated that MWEB’s service is unlimited within an uncapped context.
Ruling
The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) was asked for an opinion by the ASA and according to ISPA, describing a “shaped” service as “unlimited,” in the context in which this term is used does not appear to be misleading advertising.
The ASA ruled in favor of MWEB, saying that MWEB does not ex facie “cap” its customers, and the reference to “Unlimited data” in the context of “Uncapped data” can therefore not be regarded as misleading.
“It is clear that MWEB’s product is uncapped in that it ex facie never terminates one’s connection,” the ASA said.
The ASA subsequently dismissed the complaint against MWEB’s uncapped ADSL advertising.
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