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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on (a) consumers and (b) competition of telecoms providers which advertise FTTC connections as fibre broadband.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity. Our approach to achieving this is to make it as attractive as possible for companies to build gigabit-capable networks in the UK by creating a regulatory environment that encourages competition and investment between firms. Our strategy also includes promoting the take up of fibre broadband to ensure consumers can maximise its benefits. Gigabit-capable broadband will offer consumers a faster and more reliable connection.

DCMS recognises the decisions of both the Advertising Standards Authority and the High Court of Justice on the issue of fibre advertisement. In 2017, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK's regulator of advertising, reviewed consumer understanding of the term ‘fibre’ as used in broadband advertising (particularly for part-fibre services such as Fibre to the Cabinet) and any impact the use of this term has on consumers’ transactional decisions. The ASA engaged with stakeholders and received a range of responses from providers of part-fibre and full-fibre broadband services, consumer organisations and other regulators.

The ASA published their findings in November 2017 and concluded by stating the following:“It is not possible to conclude that the word ‘fibre’, as currently used in part-fibre advertising, is likely to mislead and misinform consumers.”

The findings also demonstrated that the word ‘fibre’ appeared to be relatively unimportant when participants interpreted broadband advertising. In addition, the report found that it generally did not trigger the start of a purchase journey for consumers.

Both the ASA and Ofcom are independent regulators and matters relating to industry rules on advertising is a matter for their discretion.