BT complaint spells end of web phone wizard ad

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint from BT about an advert that promised free Skype calls from home phones. 

The promotion, which ran in the UK national press, stated: "Get Skype on your home phone! Make Skype calls using your home phone! Enjoy the benefits of making and receiving free Skype calls worldwide and landline calls from your everyday phone." 

However, BT objected to the 'VoSKY internet phone wizard' advert on the grounds that it did not make it clear that users needed a broadband connection, and that the service was only free if a user had an unmetered internet service.

VoSKY said in its defence that the depletion of a user's internet allowance applied only to the "limited number of users" who had a capped service. 

The ASA disagreed, however. "A significant number of ISPs offer capped services, with an average minimum allowance of about 2GB per month," it said.

"We understood from Ofcom that an allowance of that size could be depleted by a combination of internet browsing and making Skype calls." 

The ASA decided that the advert breached the CAP Code on areas covering 'substantiation', 'truthfulness' and 'free offers'. 

VoSKY also lost the ruling on the secondary claim that it had not made it clear to consumers that they needed a broadband connection.

VoSKY claimed that Skype calls could be made on dial-up, broadband, ISDN, T1 or any other "stable internet connection".

"We nevertheless understood from the Skype website and by calling the number quoted on the leaflet that a broadband internet connection was required," said the ASA ruling.