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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to prevent internet service providers from advertising using the term fibre when their network uses copper wiring.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations report states that full fibre networks (FTTP connections) can provide a better quality of broadband than part-fibre connections, such as FTTC. FTTP offers more stable performance, especially at peak times, and can therefore more easily meet advertised headline speeds. Ofcom also states that, compared to copper-based networks (like standard broadband and FTTC connections), full fibre networks are more reliable and resilient and suffer five times fewer faults. Full fibre can also deliver both download and upload speeds of 1Gbps, making it significantly faster than existing services delivered over part-copper networks.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reviewed the use of the term ‘fibre’ to describe part-fibre and full-fibre broadband. As part of its decision in November 2017, it concluded that the term 'fibre' is unlikely to mislead consumers as currently used in the advertising of part-fibre broadband services. In June, the Administrative Court granted CityFibre permission to proceed with its Judicial Review of the ASA's decision.

The ASA also recognised there are differences between broadband services, and said that:

• Adverts should not describe non-fibre services as ‘fibre’
• Adverts should make performance claims for ‘fibre’ services that are appropriate for the type of technology delivering that service, and should hold evidence to substantiate the specific claims made
• Specifically, adverts should refer to speed in a manner that is appropriate for the technology, including by having due regard to the ASA’s guidance on numerical speed claims
• Adverts should not state or imply a service is the most technologically advanced on the market if it is a part-fibre service.