Advertisment
Poster advertising for Vodafone stated:
“You can always rely on Vodafone, Ireland’s best mobile network 9 years in a row.”
The advertisement listed each year from 2016 to 2024.
The advertisement also stated:
“Best in Test” and “Certified by Umlaut”.
The radio advertisement included the following claim:
“At Vodafone, we’ve just been awarded Ireland’s best mobile network, for the ninth year in a row.”
The super at the end of the advertisement stated:
“Certified by Umlaut, see Vodafone.ie for terms.”
Complaint
The complainants, Eir, objected to the advertising on the following grounds:
Issue 1:
eir considered the advertising misleading as the report referred to in the advertising was a commissioned report by the advertisers which had not been stated in the advertising. They said that they assumed that the locations and dates of testing had been agreed in advance between Vodafone and Umlaut, and that eir, and they assumed other operators, had not been contacted to explain when or where the testing was to be carried out.
Issue 2:
eir considered that the advertising had misrepresented the results and the independence of the tests, inaccurately representing Vodafone as showing a higher performance in mobile broadband and fixed broadband than eir. They said that the campaign had made reference to two reports
They referred to the Audit Report Converged Services which indicated, under mobile broadband, that Vodafone had scored “922 dots” whereas eir had scored “889 dots”. eir said that these scores considered Voice, Data and Crowdsourcing and that the Report had stated that the audit was done as a performance benchmark performed by Umlaut between 25th March 2024 and 16th April 2024 in cities and towns as well as on connection roads and that dedicated measurements had been executed as drive tests outdoors using a Samsung Galaxy S23+. They said that a Samsung Galaxy S23+ was not a mobile broadband device as it was a Smartphone. eir said that mobile broadband services were typically used in homes and business premises and not in general used outdoors on roads in cities, towns and connection roads. They said that mobile broadband devices typically only provided data services and were not used for mobile voice calls unless where the customer utilised for WiFi Calling. They said that the crowd source data collated over the period demonstrated no evidence that the data collected specifically for the Converged Services Report related to mobile broadband devices which typically were not setup with apps to facilitate the collection of such crowd data. They therefore considered that the Converged Services Report was not an accurate review of mobile broadband services as provided by Vodafone and eir and that the references to the Campaign was misleading and fell short of fair advertising.
They said that similarly for the fixed broadband scoring, the Converged Services Report failed to clarify the specific profile of the fixed broadband lines assessed to ensure a transparent test process had been applied for both Vodafone and eir’s fixed broadband services.
Response
The advertisers responded to the complaint issues raised.
Issue 1:
Vodafone stated that Umlaut’s telecommunication reports were industry recognised as quality evaluation tools and enabled comparisons between the network performance and capability of each mobile network. They said that other network providers had endorsed and publicised their own achievements relying on data from Umlaut, providing the Executive with two examples from other operators in the market. They also said that Umlaut’s 2024 Mobile Networks Benchmarking Framework stated that they provided “Independent network certification” activities, commissioned by one or more third parties and that the setup, scope and timeline for any certification and claim support activity was independently chosen and decided by Umlaut. Vodafone said that they did not agree when and where the testing would occur with Umlaut. They also said that all operators in Ireland were notified by Umlaut in advance of the test window, but that no operator was advised as to where the testing was planned for.
Issue 2:
Vodafone stated that the claims in the advertising, “Ireland’s best mobile network 9 years in a row” and “Best in Test”, were limited to their mobile service only and were not being made in regard to their converged services and that no reference had been made to broadband in their advertising.
They said that prior to the advertising being published, they secured detailed documentary evidence to substantiate the claims, and the evidence was publicly available to customers via their Terms and Conditions webpage and on the Umlaut webpage. They said that they had explained the evidence to customers in a FAQ format which asked, “How is Vodafone Ireland’s most reliable mobile network?”.
Vodafone said that they had been verified by Umlaut as “Ireland’s best mobile network 9 years in a row” and “Best in Test”, following completion of their network benchmarking audit between 25th March and 16th April 2024. They said that prior to use of the claims, they received confirmation from Umlaut of their accuracy. They said that the measurement overview, setup and methodology for Umlaut’s benchmarking audit was defined and set out in detail in the publicly available Audit Report and Best in Test Certificate and the claims were definitively stated to be “Certified by Umlaut” and as such were substantiated in the Umlaut Audit Report and Best in Test Certificate.
Conclusion
The Complaints Council considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
Issue 1 – Not Upheld:
The Council noted that the complaint was made on the basis that the fact that the report had been commissioned by Vodafone had not been stated in the advertising. The Council noted that the basis of the claim had been included in the advertising, therefore, they considered it was clear to consumers that the award had been certified by Umlaut. The Council also noted that the awarding body were recognised in the industry and were independent. They further noted that operators were advised in advance of the test window, and that no other details were provided to any operator.
The Council considered the requirements in the Code in relation to substantiation and while they noted the concerns raised by the complainants, as the basis of the claim was clear from the advertising they did not consider that the omission of such a detail was in breach of the Code on the grounds raised.
Issue 2 – Not Upheld:
The Council noted that the complainants objected to the advertising on the grounds that the claim made had misrepresented the results of the test used as the basis for the advertising claim.
The Council noted that the complainants had referred to two reports which they said had been referred to by the advertisers as support for the advertising campaign, 1) Audit Report Converged Services Ireland Nationwide and 2) Mobile Benchmark Ireland report. On examining the advertisement, the Council noted that the advertising claim had stated “mobile network”, that it was certified by Umlaut and had stated “Best in Test”. The Council also noted that the advertisers had stated that the claim was made in regard to their mobile network only and that the advertising had not made reference to broadband services.
On examining the certificate awarded as ‘Best in Test’, the Council noted that it set out the details of the testing, the methodology for the tests, the results and based on the results, the following claims could be made by the advertisers – ‘Best in test’ and ‘Best in Reliability’. In this case, the Council noted that the advertisement had included a reference to the Umlaut ‘Best in test’ award and had made a claim based on reliability as permitted by the certificate.
In the circumstances, the Council did not consider that the advertising was in breach of the Code on the grounds raised in Issue 2.
ACTION REQUIRED:
No further action required.
