Telkom 384Kbps ADSL not ‘Fast Internet’: ASA
Telkom launched its ‘Telkom Simple’ service in September 2010, offering subscribers DSL384 Internet access, 1GB of monthly data, analogue line rental and free landline calls after hours for R369 per month.
Telkom is marketing its Telkom Simple as ‘Fast Internet, Free Landline Calls’ but this advertising strategy did not go down well with Bivesh Pema who lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA).
According to Pema, a Telkom Simple infomercial which punted the service as offering “fast internet,” “fast and reliable internet,” and “much more data at much higher speeds” is misleading as the speed is not ‘fast’ as Telkom suggests.
Pema cited two articles from MyBroadband to substantiate his claims; one showing that Telkom’s DSL384 product has the slowest speed of all local broadband services (384Kbps downstream and 128Kbps upstream), and the other showing an average worldwide downstream broadband speed of 5,920Kbps.
Telkom responded by saying that there is nothing wrong in the commercial and that no implication or mention is made that the offer of 384kbps is the fastest internet, or faster than other products available locally or internationally.
Telkom added that the MyBroadband article clearly states that the performance of Telkom’s DSL384 and DSL512 services were “based on the service descriptions rather than poor performance of the services.”
The ASA said in their ruling that there can be no doubt that to a hypothetical reasonable person, this communicates that the respondent offers fast internet, which automatically implies “fast” in comparison to something else.
“The only logical assumption would be that it must be fast in comparison to other internet service providers,” the ASA states. “It is clear that in comparison to other broadband offerings on the market, the respondent’s speeds as offered on its “SIMPLE” product are the lowest in terms of downloading and uploading speeds.”
“Telkom has not denied that the speeds offered on its ‘SIMPLE’ product (384Kbps) are in fact the slowest available broadband speeds on the market, which clearly negates references to ‘FAST’ internet and contradicts all the similar claims made,” the ASA said.
The ASA subsequently ruled that the references to “FAST” and all corresponding references are misleading, and should be withdrawn with immediate effect.
Telkom 384Kbps ADSL not ‘Fast Internet’: ASA << Comments and views
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