ISP bosses in the UK have been given a stern telling off by the Ofcom Consumer Panel chairman over the advertising of “up to” speeds which, as we all should know, are rarely achieved by the majority of customers – the average UK connection speed is said to be 2.8Mbps, despite the 16Mbps+ speeds on offer from the likes of Sky, Virgin, Be Broadband and UK Online.

In her letter to the six leading lights of the Broadband Bundesligue, Ms Bowe wrote: “We are of course aware of the technical reasons for the ‘up to’ terminology that you use. I would however like to have your views about how these technical issues might be better addressed in terms of giving clearer information to potential customers.”

O2 Broadband, set to launch next week, have made a point of advertising their services as being well below that of the theoretical capabilities of an ADSL2+ connection, presumably to avoid customer dissatisfaction.

Customers buying broadband services can help themselves by doing a bit of homework and finding out what speeds they can expect to get in their area.

Former press advisor to the head of the DTI back in 1985, Colette Bowe was a key figure in the notorious Westland Affair.

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