‘Copper is Dead’ – CityFibre Wins Key Battle on use of the Term ‘Fibre’

CityFibre marked a key step in its fight against misleading use of the term ‘fibre’ by rival firms today, as the High Court granted it permission to proceed with its application for a judicial review against the Advertising Standards Authority.

The Advertising Standards Authority recently upheld a decision to allow purveyors of part fibre services (such as fibre to the cabinet, FTTC), to use the term ‘fibre’ in their advertising.

CityFibre’s CEO Greg Mesch was insistent that the term should only be applied to full, fibre-to-the-premises services.

“The High Court is seeing sense where the ASA failed to: this is the right decision for consumers and our economy. CityFibre challenged the ASA’s decision because consumers must not be misled into thinking they can get full-fibre benefits on a copper broadband network – they can’t: copper is dead,” he said.

Mesch reiterated his call for the UK to unite behind FTTH providers, explaining that the scale required to rollout these networks must be fueled by vocal demand from the general public. The CityFibre chief exec implored the court to safeguard the future of gigabit connectivity in the UK, as a key national priority.

“It is now time to sort out these advertising rules once and for all, and for the Government and industry to get behind the nationwide broadband targets set by the Chancellor. Companies are investing billions because of the transformative connectivity full fibre brings; the Court has a one-off chance to step in and make a difference for consumers before the mis-selling of broadband becomes the next PPI-style scandal.”

The ASA now has 35 days to prepare its case. – Total Telecom