Care needed in ‘unlimited’ broadband advertising
PDF DOWNLOADThe Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took action earlier this year against SingTel Optus Pty Limited (Optus) for alleged breaches of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth).
The ACCC alleged that Optus engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and made false representations in relation to the advertising of certain broadband plans as part of its ‘Think Bigger’ and ‘Supersonic’ campaigns.
The ACCC argued that while the broadband plans were advertised as ‘unlimited’, they actually included a number of limitations. For example, the fact that their broadband speed would be slowed to 64 kilobits per second once the customer reached their monthly peak data allowance was not sufficiently or clearly disclosed, and in some cases not disclosed at all.
Earlier this month the Court adjourned the trial until 26 October to give Optus the opportunity to investigate other plans on the market and gather evidence of whether consumers were constrained by the limitations on services that were sold as ‘unlimited’. Optus has also stopped using the word ‘unlimited’ in its advertising.
The case is another example of the need to be extremely careful when making assertions about the quality of products where those assertions are based on unstated assumptions or without sufficient qualifications as to the product’s characteristics.
Contact details
Melbourne
Dan Pearce
Partner
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Sydney
Ian Robertson
Partner
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Brisbane
Paul Venus
Partner
T: +61 (0)7 3135 0613
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