In a report published this week, the council concluded that European consumers are "confused" about the terms used to market broadband access technologies. It found some consumers struggled to identify which networks provide the best performance and some even think they have fibre access when "in fact they do not".
Vincent Garnier, director general of the FTTH Council Europe, said: “We call on European policy-makers to address the issue of misleading advertising and we believe that when assessing cases, the experience of [national regulators] would make a huge difference. The revision of the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive is also an opportunity to address this critical issue and the FTTH Council Europe proposes the introduction of a ‘fibre-ready’ label for new buildings and major renovations.”
The report stated that telecom regulatory authorities "usually have limited scope to address issues of awareness in advertising", while advertising standards bodies often lack the technical knowledge to scrutinise advertising claims.
Across four key findings, FTTH Council specifically called for a "fibre-ready" label to be introduced for new buildings and major renovations, and a simplification of advertising terms.
Council president, Eric Festraets, added: “Italy and France have shown that the problem of misleading advertising for fibre products can be tackled. There are a number of positive examples of controls on fibre advertising and the FTTH Council Europe believes that now is the time to take action at EU level so that all European consumers and businesses can make an informed choice about the products which are available to them.”
Highlighting the role of fibre broadband in economic growth, Stephanos Thomopoulos, VP of connectivity solutions for Europe at CommScope, said: "The introduction of a fibre-ready label for new buildings and renovations would help provide clarity on the presence of fibre and sounds like a sensible solution to aiding consumers and businesses in their decision making processes."
