UK Internet Speed Guidelines Put In Place For ISPs

Those in the UK can now benefit from a new set of guidelines distributed by Ofcom, a British telecom regulator. These guidelines, while voluntary, are a great way to help consumers find out if their Internet providers are living up to their maximum speed claims.

Should an ISP fail to meet their posted speed claims, then the consumer would have the right to change their service plan without a penalty fee. It's important to note, however, that not all speed decreases are the fault of the provider. In fact, sometimes things on the user's end can cause a slow down. 

As a part of the guidelines, providers will be asked to help users understand what causes speed decreases and what they can do to help boost it back up again. When users are near hitting their bandwidth caps, they will also need to be emailed a notice ahead of time. Several ISPs have already signed up to follow the guidelines including Talk Talk. Frequent checks over the next six months will be tracked on the Ofcom website and users are encouraged to check in from time to time to see how their provider is doing.