Has the Moose stumbled whilst traveling at alleged supersonic speeds ?...

[*Yibida*]

Australian communications giant Optus is being taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over claims about its broadband speeds.

Broadband speeds are very important to many people that are looking for broadband services, and this is an area that many people prioritise on when deciding which broadband service to choose. However, there has been a lot of unrest over the way in which Internet Service Providers advertise broadband speeds compared to the actual speeds that they offer to customers.

It has now been reported that the broadband service provider Optus is going to be taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and this is over claims that the provider offered supersonic broadband. The ACCC claims that the provider is misleading consumers with this claim, hence the reason for taking action against the company.

The problem has occurred because Optus has been claiming to offer supersonic speeds of up to 100Mbps, but has been drastically reducing speeds for those that exceed their specified usage allowance. The speeds of these users is slowed down to just 64Kbps, which is around fifteen hundred times slower.

Optus is accused of claiming that its broadband is ‘four times faster than standard broadband’ but failing to mention that the speed could be seriously affected as a result of traffic shaping. As part of the court action the ACCC is planning to bring in an expert witness to explain the difference between the different speeds and what users will be able to do with each.

Source – Think Broadband

[*Yibida*]

Oh deer: ACCC takes action over Optus ad with 'supersonic' deer
Ben Grubb
September 8, 2010

The consumer watchdog has taken legal action against telco Optus for alleged breaches of the Trade Practices Act over an ad featuring a deer breaking the sound barrier.

The ACCC alleges that Optus engaged in "misleading or deceptive conduct" and made "false representations" in relation to the advertising of certain broadband plans as part of its "Think Bigger" and "Supersonic" promotional campaigns.

It is not the first time the ACCC has taken legal action against the telco. In June, it sought an injunction to prevent Optus from using the word "unlimited" in advertisements.

[*Yibida*]

An Australian internet  service provider is being brought to court over advertising its broadband as having “supersonic” speeds, which is misleading as well as scientifically dubious.

Optus, one of Australia's largest ISPs, offered broadband speeds of 100Mb/s to its customers but then throttled their connections down a meagre 64Kb/s - over 1,500 times slower - once they had gone over their monthly usage allowance. This sparked outrage and cries that customers had been deceived about just how fast Optus' broadband really is.

Now Optus faces the wrath of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which is dragging the ISP kicking and screaming to court. It claims that Optus has deliberately misled its customers and will bring in an expert broadband witness to talk about the massive drop in speeds customers are experiencing.

   
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There are at least 11 instances of false advertising that are being brought into question, covering TV, print, billboards and online. All of these offered “supersonic” speeds which are apparently “four times faster than standard broadband”, without mentioning the severe drops in speed if the monthly cap is exceeded.

This is not a good year for Optus, as it has already been the subject of an earlier ACCC court case in June, after it claimed its voice and data plans were “unlimited” when there were, er, limited.

Towards the end of August one of BT's broadband ads was axed by the Advertising Standards Authorithy after it depicted a misleading scene suggesting websites would load faster with BT's 20Mb/s line, which is still a paltry offering in this day and age.

It seems that in their desperation to entice customers to adopt faster broadband many ISPs have no qualms suggesting they are swifter than they really are, but the move has backfired on the Australian ISP, which uses an affirmative "Yes" in its logo.

We're going with "No, Optus" instead.

[*Ubbie Max*]

I'm with Optus & it's time to keelhaul them as a warning to others.

[*r3830*]

Interesting story Yibs. We cancelled our Optus TV early last week. They are not taking any new customers - and haven't been for over twelve months. They were going to send all subscribers a 'blue screen of death' advice that they no longer provided a payTV service. Couls have been further problems with ACCC over that decision - given that they have tied people into contracts. When we spoke with them regarding a better offer from Foxtel - we were basically told that we could take it or leave it. We chose the latter.

[*Brum6y*]

I have done two installations over the last two days of the Optus 'Premium Speed Pack' - which is the product they offer for the 'supersonic' internet that has been marketed.

Speed increase claims from phone sales were "5 times" what you had before for download and 2Mbps for upload.  Some assessments I came across indicated 4 times ... maybe a bit higher.

Actual results using the Optus mirror in ozspeedtest (the one I usually use) on the 15MB download: (tests were done at times when traffic did not have a great impact. All figures in Mbps)

Installation 1.
Before - Download average: 8.4  Upload: 1.4
After - Download average: 43.55 Upload: 1.12

Installation 2.
Before - Download average: 18.4  Upload: 0.47
After - Download average: 44.3 Upload: 0.99

And, yes, when the cap is reached, they get throttled (read strangled) to the point that snail mailing a DVD would be quicker.

I have done some other speed tests using other web-based products and have found variations that indicate these products may not be accurate - not having been written with these speeds in mind (even the ozspeedtest bar graph stops at just over 30Mbps).  I think these need to be reassessed and re-written.

The one I posted in the 'Internet Speed Test' thread seemed somewhat optimistic - but I have no means to accurately judge real speed figures.

[*Brum6y*]

According to the advice given over the phone to both account owners of the above installations, the Premium Speed service can be switched off at any time by calling Optus.  You will be returned to your regular speed (I can see the potential for fights here).

The $20/month charge for the extra speed is done on a pro-rata basis - which means it will cost you something like 66 cents a day for every day you have it turned on and nothing for the days you have it turned off.

At this stage:
 - Installation 1 is likely to continue with the service - especially if Optus can bring the upload speed closer to the 2Mbps quoted.
 - Installation 2 is likely to turn it off, since the normal speed of 18+Mbps has been pretty acceptable and the increased cost more difficult to justify. However, it will only take a phone call to turn it back on.

Both installations will have a new DOCSIS 3 modem which they will keep regardless.