National communications regulator Ofcom has announced that broadband providers will have to give a minimum guaranteed internet speed to potential customers, at the point of sale.
Under the new requirements, providers that don’t deliver the minimum guaranteed speed will have 30 days to improve speeds before they must let customers walk away without penalty. This protection also applies to cable broadband customers who experience particularly wide variations in speeds during peak times.
North East MSP Mike Rumbles – who has been active in pressing for better services – commented: “The new Ofcom measures are absolutely right. Particularly for homes in rural communities that have been left behind by commercial operators and the Scottish Government’s roll-out of fibre internet.
“For too long customers in areas such as Aberdeenshire have been promised adequate internet speeds only to find themselves locked into a contract that does not meet their requirements. There is still a long way to go and the progress so far has been disappointing. We need far more action by both commercial operators and the Scottish Government to deliver superfast internet to every home but the announcement today marks an important and welcome mile-stone.”
• Find the full Ofcom release at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2018/better-information-broadband-speeds
I look forward to the day when I can triple my Broadband speed from 0.3-ish to 1 Mb, but I’m not holding my breath ; I shall believe it when I see – or experience – it