Telecommunications

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Bulletin: 15/4
Batch: 229
Reference: 24478
Product: Telecommunications
Advertiser: eircom
Agency:
Medium: Direct Mail
ASAI Code 6th Edition: 1.6c, 2.22, 2.24, 2.43, 2.50

• Advertisement
• Complaint
• Response
• Conclusion

• “Now’s the time to go UNLIMITED
  with superfast fibre broadband from eircom. For €35 a month for the first 6 months.

  Switch to eircom for Ireland's best value Unlimited Bundle!
  See how we compare
  Go totally unlimited with eircom and you're guaranteed to get the best value in Ireland.
  With eircom's totally unlimited bundle you get:
  Unlimited superfast broadband
  Unlimited home phone calls
  Unlimited TV entertainment
  Unlimited calls, texts & 5GB data plus a FREE 4G smartphone

  eircom
  €59
  A month for the first 6 months
  €112
  A month thereafter

  Sky
  €121.50
  A month for the first 6 months
  €141.50
  A month thereafter

  UPC
  €90
  A month for the first 6 months
  €130
  A month thereafter

  Vodafone
  €124
  A month for the first 6 months
  €129
  A month thereafter

  All bundles include Unlimited fibre broadband. Unlimited anytime home phone calls. Unlimited mobile. Unlimited TV entertainment.
  Entry level TV Package
  Entry level TV Package. Mobile not available with Sky, provided by Vodafone or 3.
  Entry level TV Package. Mobile not available with UPC, provided by Vodafone or 3.
  TV Package not available with Vodafone. Entry level TV provided by Sky.”

  The advertisers then posed the following question:
  “Why choose eFibre from eircom”

  The following reasons were then outlined:

  “With eFibre superfast broadband from eircom, you get speeds of up to 100Mb, so everyone can be online at the same time! Download movies in seconds, stream your favourite music and enjoy unlimited browsing, with no loss of speed.

  With Unlimited broadband you get:

  Unlimited superfast eFibre broadband
  Up to 100Mb speeds that never slow down
  Absolutely no usage limits
  The whole family can be online at once
  Reliable and consistent connection and speeds
  Stream and download in seconds
  FREE installation
  Wireless modem included

  With Unlimited home phone you get:

  Unlimited local and national home phone calls
  30 minutes to mobiles
  Make calls anytime
  Line rental included UK & International Add ons available

  Get broadband & home phone for just €35 a month. That’s €138 discount in the first year. €35 a month for the first 6 months. €58 a months thereafter.

  Add TV FREE for 6 months!

  With Unlimited TV entertainment you get:
  50+ TV channels including all the BBC’s, UTV Ireland, The Disney Channel and Discovery Channell…

  Get broadband, home phone & TV for just €35 a month €35 a month for the first 6 months €73 a month thereafter.

  Add mobile FREE for 6 months!
  Calls, texts & data with eMobile 150
  150 Minutes to any network
  150 MB data
  Unlimited calls to landlines
  FREE 4G Smartphone

  Get broadband, home phone & mobile for just €35 a month. €35 a month for first 6 months €73 a month thereafter

  Or add TV AND mobile to your broadband bundle!
  Unlimited Superfast eFibre broadband
  Unlimited anytime local & national home phone calls
  50+ TV Channels including all the BBC’s, UTV Ireland. The Disney Channel and Discovery Channel
  FREE trial of Sky Sports 1-5 or Sky Movies for 1 month
  150 minutes, 150 texts plus 150MB data included
  Free Smartphone

  Get broadband, home phone, mobile & TV for just €35 a month. That’s a €318 discount in the first year. €35 a month for first six months €88 a month thereafter.

  Upgrade your mobile to unlimited + data for just €24 a month extra

  Unlimited calls to any network
  Unlimited texts to any network
  5GB data
  Unlimited calls to landlines
  FREE 4G Smartphone

  Get broadband, home phone, unlimited mobile & TV for just €59 a month. €59 a month for the first 6 months. €112 a month thereafter.”

  Terms and conditions were provided on the mailing and customers were also invited to visit eircom.ie. In relation to the comparisons made eircom made reference to the fact that:
  “Comparison shows eircom new customer promotional pricing compared to other operator new customer/promotional pricing for broadband, home phone, TV and unlimited mobile + data. Comparison shows eircom’s unlimited bundle against comparable combinations of these services available from Sky, UPC, Vodafone and Three. Eircom bundle includes, eircom’s Unlimited eFibre Advanced, eTalk Anytime. Unlimited mobile phone + data and eVision Essential TV. Sky bundle includes, Sky
  Fibre Unlimited. The Original bundle, Sky Talk Anytime and either Vodafone Red or 3 Unlimited Flex Max. UPC bundle includes 120Mb Anytime mobile and Horizon TV and either Vodafone Red or 3 Unlimited Flex Max. Vodafone bundle includes Home Essential, Sky TV – The Original Bundle and Vodafone Red. Sources Vodafone.ie, UPC.ie, Sky.ie and Three.ie as at 16/04/2015…”

• UPC objected to the advertisement on the following grounds:
  1. The bundling of UPC’s products with eircom’s for the purpose of a comparison
  UPC said that the comparisons made between the UPC and eircom bundles in the advertisement were unfair, unclear and based on a distorted set of pricing conditions. They said the savings were conditional on customers moving from a mobile contract and UPC were not currently in the mobile market.

  2. Broadband - Price Comparison – Home Phone
  UPC said that given that they were not in the mobile market the correct price comparison should have been calculated on broadband, home phone and TV only. If this had been the case they said the correct figures after the initial six month discounted period would have been €78 for the eircom bundle and €75 for the UPC bundle. They also said that they could offer faster speeds than eircom. To further illustrate that the advertisers’ “Unlimited” campaign was factually incorrect, they set out the following table:

  Eircom
  Broadband Up to 100Mb
  Home Phone All calls to local and national
  landlines, and 30 minutes to
  Irish mobiles,

  UPC
  Broadband 120Mb
  Home Phone All calls to local and national landlines AND mobiles, and 400 minutes to landlines in 22 specific international destinations.

  UPC said that it was evident from the above table that their offer was better value than that offered by eircom.

  3. Television Entertainment

  UPC said that the information provided by eircom for this element of the package was also factually incorrect. They said while eircom offered 50 channels to their customers, if customers wanted the five additional HD channels offered they had to pay for them. UPC said they offered a better package and used the following table to illustrate this point.

  Eircom
  TV 50 Channels including +1 channels
  (49 channels excluding +1) 5 additional
  HD channels are available at an extra cost.

  UPC
  TV 63 channels excluding +1 channels. This includes 14 HD channels at no extra cost.

  In conclusion UPC reiterated that the information provided by eircom in relation to their unlimited bundles was factually incorrect and could give rise to the average consumer making a transactional decision on misleading information provided by the advertisers. They also said that had the figures been based on the broadband, home phone and TV only elements of the bundle they would have been €3 cheaper than eircom after the six month discounted period.

• The advertisers said that the intention of their campaign had been to highlight to consumers the savings which they could achieve in choosing an eircom quadplay bundle offering as opposed to a comparable composite quadplay offering from a combination of any of eircom’s primary competitors, Sky, UPC, Vodafone and 3. They said they held a unique position as being the only quadplayer provider in the Irish market. In order to demonstrate to their customers the savings they could make, it was necessary to compare their quadplay offering with the tripleplay offerings of Sky, UPC and Vodafone with a comparable fourth bundle element included.

  They said as UPC did not have a mobile offering, they had included pricing for a comparable mobile offering from two of the largest providers in the Irish market, 3 and/or Vodafone. By doing this they said that rather than misleading consumers they had provided them with the facility to accurately appraise the value of the eircom quadplay bundle, by comparison to what was a composite, but nonetheless, statistically likely quadplay bundle in the form of the UPC and Vodafone/3 quadplay offering. They said they had made it clear in their advertisement that their quadplay bundle was a composite offering.

  In relation to the home phone element attached to the bundle, the advertisers said they had clearly set out the parameters attached to this part of their offering. They said they had clearly indicated that this part of the bundle entitled consumers to all calls to local and national landlines, and 30 minutes to Irish mobiles.

  In relation to the TV Entertainment part of the bundle the advertisers said they had once again clearly indicated the elements attached. They said in referring to “Unlimited TV entertainment” it had been their unambiguous intention to demonstrate the unlimited nature of viewing consumers could derive from a set number of channels rather than the number of stations they provided. They considered that with over 50 stations to choose from there would be programmes available for viewing for all tastes at all times.

  Additional Information:
  UPC considered that the inclusion of the UPC logo inferred that the combined product was available from UPC rather than it being a product combination from UPC and either Vodafone or Three.

• Complaints Upheld

  The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.

  1. Complaint Upheld
  Bundling of UPC’s products with eircom (quadplay) for comparative purposes.

  The Complaints Committee considered that the average consumer would not generally be misled or otherwise confused with an advertiser bundling multiple competitor product offerings and then comparing it to their own product offering. The Committee considered that the basis of selection at the time of the campaign was the most appropriate based on market share and product offerings. However, as the marketing communication had included the UPC logo, they considered that consumers could understand that the combined bundle was available from UPC and as such were likely to be misled. On this basis they considered the advertisement had contravened the Code and upheld the complaints under Sections 2.22 and 2.24 of the Code.

  2. Complaint Upheld
  Broadband - Price comparison Home Phone.

  The Committee noted that the headline claims for eircom’s home phone offering were “Unlimited home calls” and “Unlimited home phone.” As there were limits on calls to mobile numbers and no international numbers, they considered the description “Unlimited” likely to mislead and in breach of Sections 2.22 and 2.24 of the Code.

  3. Complaint Upheld
  Television Entertainment.

  The Committee noted that eircom had also referred to this element of the bundle as being “Unlimited.” They noted that while eircom customers qualified for 50 channels (including +1), if they required the five additional HD channels they incurred an extra cost. They noted that UPC on the other hand offered 63 channels (excluding +1 channels) and 14 HD channels at no extra cost. The Committee did not consider that the claim to offer unlimited television was appropriate based on the information provided by eircom. They did not accept that unlimited television meant anything other than unrestricted access to all channels, already available throughout the different platforms in Ireland. The Committee upheld the complaint under Sections 2.22, 2.24 and 2.50 of the Code.

  Action Required:
  The advertising should not be used again.1.6