Comcast may be achieving new goals in the context of providing proficient services in home digital Internet services, but the company is in troubled waters after misleading people through some of its advertisements.
The cable company has been asked by National Advertising Review Board (NARB) to stop advertising the fact that it provides the fastest Internet services in America or the "fastest in-home Wi-Fi"
This ruling comes after Verizon raised questions about Comcast's assertions in 2016 in front of the he National Advertising Division (NAD). Verizon claimed that Comcast was spreading incorrect information about its services. This happened after the Verizon FiOS got undermined in the market when compared to Comcast's Xfinity, which had received a superior status.
NARB noted in its decision that Comcast and Verizon offer different tiers of services to the customers which are based on maximum Internet download and upload facilities. The pricing and value of the services gradually increases with the increase in the download and upload speed.
This is not the first time Comcast is facing such allegations as reported earlier, it faced accusations from the Washington State and was sued for $100 million. The company was charged with misinforming clients about its Service Protection Plans (SPP), as well charging improper service call fees.
The NARB Findings
During its surveillance, the panel found that an ISP had claimed to offer fastest Internet services without mentioning much about what it meant by the term "fastest."
Since a word has several meanings it can be interpreted by customers in a different manner. The chances of misleading the customer increases, which could be considered a strategic marketing technique.
The authorities found that Comcast claimed of offering "America's fastest internet" i.e. overall Internet speed superiority in all its three tiers of the services. So the misnomer was that the company was claiming something it was not providing. Through advertisements Comcast was in some way deceiving customers and luring them to take up its home Internet service plan.
The NARB asserted that Comcast's claims were on the basis of data that was crowdsourced from speed test provider Ookla from Jan. 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015.
These tests were only representative of 10 percent of Xfinity customers who chanced to test the speed of their Internet.
The watchdog shared that Ookla's data's accuracy was not in question, but it was in agreement with the NAD that this information was not sufficient for Comcast to stake claims that it offers the quickest Internet in the country.
For future adverts, Comcast has agreed to adhere to the recommendations made by NARD. However, the cable company added that is expects that both NARB and NAD "will hold all advertisers to the same standards when making similar claims."
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
