Ofcom to find early solution to the speed issue
Just after Ben Colette, the Chairman of Ofcom Consumer Panel has raised his concerns over the vast difference between the advertised speed and actual speed and demanded the telecom watchdog to impose a mandatory code of practice on all ISPs, the Head of Ofcom Ed Richards has come with positive reactions on the issue. In his reply to the regulators, Ofcom’s chief said that Ofcom is set to propose new guidelines with regard to broadband services advertised and offered by the UK ISP and will come into effect by early 2008.
A few days ago, Ofcom Consumer Panel chief Ben sent a letter to Ofcom asking to enforce rules by which all ISPs should provide complete information about their service, speed during and after sales process. The letter was focused on the issue of actual speeds which should be known to the customers while they should be free enough to choose alternative packages when a particular packages fails to deliver what it earlier promised.
Mr. Richards said that Ofcom favours early solution to this problem:
“We are keen that any measures are implemented in the shortest time frame possible, At this stage, we have not ruled out the possibility of using formal powers if we consider it would be more effective in delivering our objectives.”
As everyone knows, the speeds can be affected by factors like line quality, distance from the exchange and the number of people sharing the line. UK broadband industry is already facing the issue of highly competitive environment and broadband providers in the UKÂ find much harder to retain their business. It is yet to be seen, how Ofcom is about to bring a solution that can appease both broadband users as well as ISPs.
