Internet Business News, March 12, 2004

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently received a complaint from a member of the public concerning a magazine advertisement from Fast4 Internet for Internet services.

The ad claimed to offer 'unlimited Internet access' for a

monthly fee of GBP6.99. However the complainant, who subscribed to the service, alleged that the telephone line for dial-up access was often engaged and, when the line was available, subscribers were sometimes unable to access the service.

Fast4 Internet said that its service was described as 'unlimited' because there was no limit on the amount of time that subscribers could spend online, with the only restrictions being the contention ratio and session limit. The company suggested that the complainant had been unable to connect to the service because he had called at the busiest times of day.

The ASA said that the complainant had experienced difficulty connecting to the service at all times of the day, and ruled that Fast4 Internet had not shown that its service was available to subscribers with sufficient reliability to justify the claim of 'unlimited Internet access'. The complaint was therefore upheld.