New Ofcom rules mean no more 'fibre'

New Ofcom guidance on the designation of fibre-based Internet offerings came into force on Monday. Essentially it means that broadband providers can no longer bandy about the word 'fibre' when what they are actually flogging uses other technologies to connect the customer premises.

In fact, the UK regulator is discouraging the use of 'fibre' as a standalone term in all circumstances. Its quest for clarity means it is calling on ISPs to specify whether they are offering a full fibre service, which runs over fibre all the way into a customer's home or business, or a 'part-fibre' offering, which doesn't; in the case of the latter, it is perfectly happy for providers to use the terms 'copper' or 'cable' too.

"This information must be given to consumers before they agree to purchase a broadband service, regardless of whether they sign up in person, over the phone or online," Ofcom said in a statement in which it reminded the industry of the new rules.

Ofcom set out the new guidelines at the back end of last year as part of a push to clear up customer confusion. At the time it shared the results of a consumer survey which showed, amongst other things, that 46% of respondents who claimed to be connected to full fibre actually lived in an area where the technology was not available.

Nine months on and the new guidelines are in place. And they read the same now as they did then. Operators have to use the aforementioned simple terms to describe their services, both at the point of sale and in the contract information, and avoid using 'fibre' by itself. They also have to provide a more thorough explanation of the underlying broadband technology to provide more detail to the customer. This could be via an online link, for example, and has to be easy to understand.

It's hard to see how any reasonable service provider could object to those rules. But Ofcom has indicated that it will keep an eye on the market, although it’s not wholly clear what action it might take should an operator fall foul of the regs.

"We've engaged with the larger providers on the implementation of the guidance in the lead-up to today. Now the guidance is in force, we'll be assessing implementation in practice," an Ofcom spokesperson told Telecoms.com.

The larger providers were keen to tell us that they are on board with the changes.

"We are fully compliant with Ofcom's new rules on broadband labelling, with the underlying technology specified clearly at the point of sale and in customers' contractual documents," a Virgin Media spokesperson told us.

Meanwhile, BT confirmed that it too is "fully compliant" with Ofcom's new rules and is supportive of its broader effort to make things clearer for consumers.

All in all, it's a pretty small change to ask fibre providers – full or part – to make, but it could make a significant difference to consumers...once they get as far as the point of sale, that is.