Ofcom, the UK telecom regulator issued the latest Code of Practice (CoP) for the ISPs on the issue of broadband speed. The aims and principles of the new CoP have so far received support from most of the UK ISPs and their trade organization, Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), according to the report. Further, the ISPA has asked its members to follow the regulations of the CoP which demand the ISPs to be transparent on the issue of broadband speeds offered to their customers. In addition, ISPA recommends the new CoP should include both wireless broadband services and traditional phone services to reduce the confusion to the customers.

However, the new CoP considers access line speed as more important than throughput speed. Most ISPs who are members of ISPA think that access line speed indicates the speed that the customers are supposed to get, while throughput speed could really matter to the end users. It seems that ISPA, Ofcom and the ISPs would work together to offer the essential information to the customers on throughput speeds.

Oli White of Be broadband provider said:
“Be Broadband has never hidden away from providing customers with the true broadband speed they would receive. Now, with the biggest ISPs signing up, broadband customers will see just how much faster Be Broadband’s service is compared to other ISP providers.

The estimated access line speed is a useful starting point but the real test will be an independent 'throughput' test which measures how each ISP performs in practice.”

The comments made by some of the ISPs on the new CoP:

"We fully support the spirit of the Code and welcome the notion that customers should be given a realistic expectation of the speed of their Broadband. We will be reviewing, and amending where necessary, our own processes over the course of the next six months to ensure we comply fully with the Principles set out in the Code. We will also continue to work with Ofcom with regards the further development of the Code.
Further updates will be provided on our Web site over the coming weeks."
Statement from Zen Internet.

"Virgin Media welcomes Ofcom's new code of practice. Not all broadband services are the same and we agree that consumers are sometimes confused by competing marketing claims. We hope the code will help de-mystify what's on offer and allow consumers to choose the product that's right for them."
Virgin Media.

However, James Blessing of Entanet has commented his counter-views on the issue:
"This isn't going to solve any problems, decent ISP's have been doing this (and much more) since day 1. In some cases they have lost business in some cases because of their honesty to 'unlimited' advertisers).

Now Ofcom are 'imposing' conditions that won't protect the user, they are obsessing on connection speed rather than performance and have only actually spoken to anyone out side the 'big 6 cartel' with much reluctance."