Telecoms board gives ruling in appeal case
Advertisements by PCCW for its broadband services misled the public in 2004 and 2005 by failing to state that its uploading speed was slower than the downloading speed, the Telecommunications (Competition Provisions) Appeal Board has ruled.
Overturning a decision made by the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta), the appeal board upheld a complaint filed by PCCW rival Hong Kong Broadband Network in November 2005 and rejected by Ofta in April last year.
PCCW, which has over 1 million broadband users, said yesterday that the company adjusted its advertisements all the time, and that its adverts were no longer at issue. The company also said it hoped the whole industry would move together in improving the quality of service.
However, Hong Kong Broadband Network said that PCCW was still misleading the public, as marketing material on its website still did not publish the uploading speed of its broadband service.
Hong Kong Broadband Network initially complained to Ofta about newspaper advertisements for PCCW's Netvigator broadband service in 2004 and 2005. The adverts claimed the speed of the broadband service was three to eight megabits per second (mbps), but did not disclose the difference between the downloading and uploading speed. PCCW provides broadband service through its telephone network using a technology called asymmetrical digital subscriber line [ADSL], which limits the upload speed to around 640 kilobits per second - far slower than the downloading speed.