BT in rare ASA victory after Infinity speed test complaint rejected

BT has scored a rare victory in its dealings with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after the watchdog ruled against a complaint that the ISP's speed test tool had promised speeds over 10Mbit/s faster than those actually achieved.

A complainant to the ASA argued the speed checker on BT's Infinity web site had said a download speed of 29.5Mbit/s and 6.6Mbit/s upload would be available at the premises, but the real speed achieved was just 17.9Mbit/s.

BT acknowledged the tool was not always accurate and that its Openreach division was working with the customer affected to try to resolve the issue given the level of difference in the promised and actual speeds.

However, it added that it provided a clear statement that the speeds it said may be achieved were a best-guess figure and that generally the service delivered accurate results for end-users.

As such, the ASA said it was satisfied that BT had done its best to give potential customers clear warnings the test was not always accurate and was satisfied with the evidence it saw from BT that the tool was usually reliable.

"We noted the ad made clear that the actual download speed experienced by consumers was dependent on several factors," it said.

"Since we had seen evidence that the predicted download speeds were accurate in the vast majority of cases, we concluded that the estimated download speed had been substantiated."

V3 contacted BT for comment on the decision but had received no reply at the time of publication.

The decision is a rare victory for BT in its dealing with the ASA, having fallen foul of the watchdog several times in recent years including over a series of adverts for its Infinity service that it had to amend.

BT is not the only internet service provider (ISP) to be taken to task by the ASA, though, with adverts run by Virgin Media also criticised.