Telecoms firms will be banned from using the word ‘fibre’ to describe their broadband offerings, the UK’s communications regulator has said, as it seeks to crackdown on misleading information for consumers.
Ofcom has said ‘fibre’ must not be used on its own and broadband providers will now need to be clear and unambiguous about whether the network they use is a new ‘full-fibre’ network – with fibre all the way to a customer’s home – or a ‘part-fibre’, ‘copper’, or ‘cable’ network.
“Full-fibre networks are currently being deployed at pace, meaning customers are increasingly able to choose from a range of different network technologies for their broadband service,” Ofcom said.
“However, the term ‘fibre’ has previously been applied inconsistently by the telecoms industry and often used to describe different types of networks, leading to confusion among customers.”
Ofcom has now specified tat that ‘full-fibre’ must only used to describe networks which use fibre-optic cables all the way from the exchange to the home, while ‘part-fibre’ would describe those services with a fibre-optic connection from the local exchange to the street cabinet and then usually a copper wire connecting the street cabinet to the customer’s home.
These descriptions should be offered at point of sale on the website, and before the final purchase in contract information, and in the contract summary, Ofcom said, adding that providers must give a more thorough explanation of the underlying broadband technology so that consumers can understand in more detail what it means for them.
Over half of UK homes (52%) or as many as 15.4 million households now have access to full-fibre services, according to Ofcom data published earlier this month, driven by the larger fibre operators such as BT Openreach but also supported by a number of smaller providers across the UK serving individual communities and regions.
Availability of gigabit-capable broadband continues to improve at a rapid pace, with nearly 22.4 million UK homes (75%) now able to access them.