Telkom does not have South Africa’s biggest, fastest broadband network

Telkom has promised to no longer claim it has South Africa’s “biggest, fastest broadband network” in its advertising, following a complaint by Vodacom to the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA).

Vodacom said Telkom advertised its products with the lines: “Flick to your connected life with SA’s biggest, fastest broadband network”, and “Start living connected with SA’s biggest, fastest broadband network”.

Vodacom argued that “broadband” includes virtually all data services in South Africa – 3G, 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, ADSL, and fibre.

“Given that the respondent’s claim includes the term broadband, it is making a wide-sweeping statement that it is the biggest and fastest in each, and across all, of the broadband services in South Africa,” stated the ASA report.

“Vodacom defines coverage in terms of geographic coverage, population coverage, and subscriber base. The respondent should show it has the biggest population coverage, geographical coverage, and subscriber base in South Africa.”

Telkom stated that the adverts in question were no longer in circulation, and the company had no intention of using the contested wording in future advertisements.

The ASA accepted Telkom’s promise to not use the “biggest, fastest broadband network” wording in its current form in future, and ruled that this addressed the concerns of Vodacom.

The ruling follows a similar complaint laid by Vodacom against Telkom, which was upheld by the ASA, where a TV advert by Telkom laid claim to it having SA’s “biggest, fastest network”.

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