UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has proposed new rules for broadband providers' point-of-sale and contractual information relating to fibre networks in a bid to increase customer awareness over what they are actually paying for.
Under the proposed guidelines, broadband providers would only be able to use the terms ‘fibre’ and ‘full-fibre’ on their websites and in contracts if their network uses fibre-optic cables all the way from the exchange to the home.
Providers will also need to give customers a simple, clear description of the network technology they are signing up for.
The complexities of broadband technology can be confusing for customers, in part due to inconsistent use of the term 'fibre' to refer to both old and new networks.
Ofcom research has found that less than half of all customers who reported to be on full-fibre were actually living in areas where it is available.
Furthermore, over a quarter of broadband customers said they were not confident in understanding the language and terminology used by providers.
Why the confusion?
‘Fibre’ can refer to older part-fibre-part-copper technologies, also called fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), which uses a combination of fibre optic cables and traditional copper wires to deliver broadband services to homes and businesses via old green street cabinets
On the other hand, full-fibre, also called fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), circumvents old copper infrastructure completely, so the signal is less likely to degrade over distance and can offer much faster speeds, greater reliability and lower latency than FTTC.
Full-fibre network speed can reach as much as one gigabit per second (Gbps), or up to 10-times faster than legacy copper networks.
Despite greater competition among network owners, 28% of UK premises still did not have access to gigabit-capable broadband, with the figure highest in Wales at 45%.
Recent surveys conducted by Point Topic showed that a third of respondents surveyed were unsure as to whether their broadband connections are based on full-fibre technology, indicating a market that has yet to fully get to grips with the technology or the terminology.
“A lot of what I took away from it was that the term ‘fibre’ is used interchangeably too often by ISPs (internet service providers) and consumers are none the wiser as to what technology their broadband connection is,” explained Point Topic’s Senior UK Plus Analyst Veronica Speiser.
Furthermore, there was a large proportion of survey respondents that subscribed to a Virgin Media O2 ultrafast service believing they were on an FTTP connection, although much of Virgin’s high-speed coverage is not actually full-fibre.
Ofcom’s consultation will end on May 3, 2023.
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