13 December 2007
Broadband provider TalkTalk has been censured for a misleading advertisement it issued earlier this year.
The brochure advert in question falsely claimed that the Carphone Warehouse-owned firm offered "free" broadband, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found.
TalkTalk failed to make sufficiently clear that the new "free" offer, incorporating broadband in an updated version of its Talk 3 phone package, involved a longer contract than the original Talk 3 plan - extending the mandatory sign-up period from 12 to 18 months.
The original complaint to the ASA had been made by the UK's leading broadband provider by customer numbers, BT.
In its ruling, the ASA stated: "The package advertised involved an increased burden on the consumer than that previously offered and was, therefore, classed as a new package of which broadband was an intrinsic, not free, element."
It added: "We told TalkTalk to ensure that, in future ads or promotions, the use of 'free' was appropriate."
The Carphone Warehouse, incorporating TalkTalk, currently retains around 2.5 million UK subscribers.