News Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds
27th July 2010: OFCOM have launched a new version of their code of practice on broadband speeds.
Whilst we agree with motives and principles and spirit of the code in general the latest version has a lot of details that seem badly drafted and have some serious issues. The main issue is that performance of broadband lines (in terms of speed) is to be measured by reference to the speeds of similar lines with the same ISP - thus making 1 in 10 customers below some new guaranteed minimum access speed. This is regardless of how good the ISP is, how fast their lines are or how consistent they are for specific line characteristics. We also feel the new code actively discourages pro-active monitoring of broadband line quality and speed (which we do a lot of).
In light of this, and along with some other small ISPs, we have chose to NOT sign the OFCOM code of practice on broadband speed.
Instead we are making what we feel are better commitments to our customers (see below) explaining how seriously we take the quality and speed of broadband lines.
The new code of practice does not really help customers tell which ISPs are better and which are worse. It would define 1 in 10 of our lines as problem lines whatever we did, and classify all of our best lines as problem lines even though they get maximum speeds. It is really badly worded.
We have made a more detailed list of problems with new code of practice here
Our commitment to quality
Running an uncongested network
We aim to ensure links to carriers are not congested - i.e. we are never the bottleneck. We will monitor this and provide reports each month on how well we have achieved that target for each type of service.
Telling you what to expect
We will use the best information we get from carriers (e.g. BT/Be) to provide speed estimates for your line. We provide a checker on our web site and an estimate whilst ordering. We note the estimate we quoted for your later reference.
Taking speed and quality issues seriously
We will take speed and quality fault reports seriously. We will consider the access speed (DSL sync) and BRAS rate (in BT) and actual achieved throughput. We will consider packet loss and latency. We will consider previous performance and the original estimates quoted. We will advise you where we think you can improve your equipment or wiring. We will pursue fault reports with carriers where we think they are the cause of a fault. We will rectify faults that are within our control. We will offer any advice we can where there are matters beyond our control. We ask you to give us a chance to rectify issues, but if we cannot resolve the matter within 30 days you can immediately migrate ADSL service to another provider with no penalty. We don't restrict this offer to the first few months of your service with us.
Measuring quality
We will monitor all broadband lines constantly and provide real time and historical information to you for your lines. We will record the line rate (BRAS or sync) and the actual data transfer speeds achieved. We will constantly measure packet loss and latency to asses quality issues and identify and tackle the underlying causes of low speed, not just the symptoms.
Working with carriers to provide a quality service
We will analyse our monitoring to identify congestion and quality issues in carrier networks. We will publish these clearly. We will work closely with carriers to promptly identify and rectify issues in their network by any means necessary.
We are happy for other ISPs that are not signing up to OFCOMs code of practice on broadband speed to use some or all of these key statements if they wish, as long as they really do believe in them and will follow them. We recognise that not all ISPs have the same levels of line monitoring that we do, but at the very least we know that most ISPs we deal with have the same views and expect to tell customers sensible line speeds and take speed issues seriously.
