Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make it compulsory for internet service providers to publish, as prominently as "up to" broadband speeds, a guaranteed minimum speed for their services.

The Government has no plans to regulate the way in which broadband speeds are advertised. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has already carried out a significant amount of work to improve the performance of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The Voluntary Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds was introduced by Ofcom in 2008 and which the majority of ISPs have now signed up to. The Code requires ISPs to make clear and accurate information on the broadband services available to consumers at the point of sale, including speed, so that they can make an informed decision before purchasing. Since the Code was strengthened in 2010, ISPs have been required to give consumers broadband speeds estimates in the form of a range rather than as a midpoint estimate where there was large variation in achievable speeds. Consumers must also be allowed to leave a contract without penalty if they receive speeds significantly below the estimate.

Under the Code ISPs are expected to manage customers’ problems when they report that they are not receiving the speeds that they had expected to receive when they purchased the broadband service. This includes the ISP investigating any technical problems and in certain circumstances offering a different broadband package without charging the customer the cost of migrating to the new package.

Ofcom is currently discussing with industry and consumer groups its proposals to revise the Code to reflect significant changes in the broadband market since the Code’s introduction, with the increased take up of superfast packages. An updated Code is due to be published in December.