BT dismisses Ofcom speed test as being out of date

Posted 29th July 2009 at 3:38pm by Ewan Taylor-Gibson

Ofcom's report into fixed-line broadband speeds has been dismissed by internet service provider BT as being "sadly out of date".

The telecom regulator conducted speed tests with technology company SamKnows over 18 months to find that BT customers on 8Mb broadband deals typically receive download speeds of 3.8 to 4.2Mb.

According to the study, BT customers trailed those with Orange, O2 and Virgin Media, among others.

However, BT's consumer managing director John Petter said that the figures for the ISP are inaccurate because it has already started moving customers onto its 21st Century Network (21CN).

"In addition, we are making exciting progress in our trial for fibre to the cabinet - which will offer speeds far in excess of what Virgin Media offers most of its customers today," he added.

Mr Petter also questioned the methodology of the study, suggesting that it penalised BT for providing broadband services in areas that other ISPs avoid.

Meanwhile, BT Openzone announced this month that it has set up Wi-Fi hotspots at six of Flybe's UK lounges.

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12 comments

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Ray, 29th July 2009.

I think BT are talking rubbish. I find them awful one day i get 6.5MB the next I get 0.5Mb> i don't even bother trying to get help from them. Totally useless.
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Geoff, Swindon, 29th July 2009.

Speed tests are so dependent on outside influences that any result is just a percentage of the true line speed. If these test results were done from the server that is providing the service to the end user these results would differ dramatically. Instead these tests are done from servers all over and very often have several speed tests going at the same time so an accurate result is never given. So I agree that these speed tests are out of date.

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Gary , 30th July 2009.

Rubbish they dont cap they do and i was on option 3 unlimited they dont tell u when kids off school in 6 week hols u cant do anything cos the speed goes after 9am yet when do a speedtest surprise surprise its 8 meg have moved now lol.
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Rob, 30th July 2009.

BT are an utter joke.I've been trying for the past 6 weeks to get them to sort out my broadband speed after it went wonky.It was down to 0.5MB and still got throttled down during peak times for pity's sake.

Have had 6 engineers out thus far,most of which check exactly the same things.They knew by number 3 what the issue was and yet they continued to send more out.

The final straw for me was when they managed to leave my phone disconnected after working on the install of some new cable. I called them on my mobile straight away as I'm epileptic and as such rely on my landline for safety.

I was told they'd need to put a line fault order in.I recieved a short time later a text saying that they would fix the phone by 30th july,that was 2 days away.I feel understandably that's unacceptable customer service..regardless of all the other c**p I've had from them over the past 6 weeks.

I could go on a lot more but if you've had to deal with BT's "customer service" I'm sure you've already *enjoyed* it's many and varied joys.
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Jason Maclennan, 31st July 2009.

BT is rubbish but Im stuck with them. They tell me my line supports 5meg, occasionally I get 3meg and more often than not I get less than 1.5meg which is apparently the minimum speed they guarrantee you should get. After a number of complaints and 10 months later its still not sorted. Every time it rains the broardband connection is lost and then over the next few days as things dry out it recovers on and off, yet BT does nothing to fix the problem. Im at the point of seaking legal advice as they are not providing their end of the contract and thus are in breach.
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Martin, 31st July 2009.

I am a new BT customer joined the 8th July. I am now gutted that I joined them, option 3 I am on and currently seeing from 256kbps to the max i have seen 1024mb, think i will be cancelling very shortly. Customer services what customer service, Disgraceful.
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Bone, 31st July 2009.

I think BT are being fraudulant, they take our money and dont provide the service they promise. I went back to bt when they told me my internet speed would be up to 3.5mb, I have since found out in my area its only 1.0mb but in the real world I'm recieving up to 100kbs on a good day. They know where the poor areas of reception are, they know at certain times of day theres a heavy load on the system so why not boost the signal so everybody has a fair chance of getting on line & staying on line instead of being booted off.
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Malcolm, 2nd August 2009.

They should be made to pay back customers who are not getting the speed they are paying for. After all if we don't pay them they turn us off. That's the problem in Britain today people and companies getting away with murder and know one give a damn anymore

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John, 3rd August 2009.

Same. I think i will be cancelling very shortly maybe to virgin or O2 and get 20mb
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Sue Shepherd, 11th August 2009.

We are paying an astronmical amount of money for our so called connection with BT Broadband. Just got a reading of 0.1mbps! What a joke. Cant download updates. Cant get emails sometimes. Legal advice seems a good move. Will have to brace myself for customer services!
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Sean, 4th October 2009.

I "upgraded" from up to 8mb to the up to 20mb service. My improved service has gone from 7mb download speed to 1mb. This is an "improvement" because it's "guarenteed". Total rubbish. I'm tied in to this rubbish for overa year but that's the last time I will be conned
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Rob, 8th October 2009.

Hi, I have been a BT Business User for 10 months now. My speed has gone from 500Kbps, down to 200Kbps, even though my property is 300m from the exchange and gets line aattenuation and noise levels to die for.

After having been told constantly "next week" by BT's "Specialist teams" every week for the past 10 months, I finally gave them the ultimatum of, either you fix the problem by monday, or im not paying another cent. -

Next day i get a call from them, and they tell me that my exchange is over its capacity, and as a result they need to do a big upgrade to it to improve things, only thing is that the work is going to take 2 weeks to complete!

Im furious because, BT have been delaying this step for 10 months, giving my business terrible speeds, and has cost us alot of money in efficiency.

BT need to be brought to account! The regulators in this sector seem to side with the companies all the time, and never seem to be willing to step up to the mark and put ther customers needs first!

If the Broadband providers dont provide what they say they are going to provide... in BT's case "Consistently fast, broadband all day... make the jump to lightspeed today" kind of talk, they should be fined, and the contract should be void.
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