Advertisment
Television advertisement:
A television advertisement opens with the image of Earth with “5G” written above it. The advertisement included various scenes in which people were shown using broadband in different situations, such as working from home, working on a farm, students in school, families watching devices and a person video calling another. The advertisement also featured various images of towns and countryside in Ireland together with showing people having broadband installed. The advertisement then featured various ‘moments’ from Ireland, such as a person at the Cliffs of Moher and an image from Dublin Castle during the results of the same sex marriage referendum and finally the close up of an eye.
V/O: “While you’ve been waiting for high speed broadband, companies around the world are switching to new 5G fixed broadband networks. As an alternative and quicker way to connect homes and businesses to fibre. Finally making superfast broadband available, not just for some, but for everyone, everywhere. With 1000’s of customers already connected, we are investing and already building our new 5G fixed broadband network. Imagine a more intelligent network, bringing people closer, driving innovation, improving our lives and more, much more. We see our homes, schools and communities grow with our 5G network. We see a country that’s better connected. Now there’s a new choice and it’s here to connect you to everything that matters most. We don’t see things as they are, we see things as they should be. We see a country connected.”
Final screen image:
“Imagine
A country connected
Imagine.ie”
Radio:
“Ireland has a new superfast broadband network. Imagine’s 5g ready fixed broadband is a smarter, more intelligent network built to connect businesses, homes and communities across regional and rural Ireland. With speeds of up to 150mb, the wait for superfast broadband is finally over. The broadband network built for everyone, everywhere. At imagine we don’t see things as they are, we see things as they should be. We see a country connected.”
Radio 2:
“Ireland has a new- superfast broadband network. Imagine’s 5g ready fixed broadband network is already connecting 1000’s of homes, businesses and communities across regional and rural Ireland. That’s superfast broadband for everyone, everywhere. Prioritising areas with little to no broadband and connecting them first. At imagine we don’t see things as they are, we see things as they should be. We see a country connected. Register now at imagine.ie”
Radio 3:
“Ireland has a new superfast broadband network. Imagine’s 5g ready fixed broadband network with broadband speeds of up to 150mb is now live. Connecting everyone, everywhere. A more intelligent network built especially for regional and rural Ireland. You can’t wait for superfast broadband and thanks to Imagine you don’t have to. At Imagine we don’t see things as they are, we see things as they should be. We see a country connected. Register now at imagine.ie”
Radio 4:
“Ireland has a new superfast broadband network. Imagine’s 5g ready fixed ready broadband built to connect homes and businesses across regional and rural Ireland. With broadband speeds of up to 150mb the wait for superfast broadband is finally over. Broadband for everyone, everywhere. Call us on 1800938200 that’s 1800938200”
Radio 5:
“Ireland has a new superfast broadband network. Imagine’s 5g ready fixed ready broadband priorities homes and businesses across regional and rural Ireland connecting them first. That’s superfast broadband for everyone, everywhere. At imagine we don’t see things as they are, we see things as they should be. We see a country connected. Call us on 1800938200 that’s 1800938200”
Radio 6:
“Ireland has a new superfast broadband network. Imagine’s 5g ready fixed ready broadband With speeds of up to 150mb a more intelligent network built especially for regional and rural Ireland connecting everyone, everywhere. You can’t wait for superfast broadband and now you don’t have to. At imagine we don’t see things as they are, we see things as they should be. We see a country connected. Call us on 1800938200 that’s 1800938200”
Website:
“Our 5G ready Fixed Broadband Network delivers Superfast broadband, not just for some, but for everyone, everywhere.
With thousands already connected, we are rolling out our 5G ready Fixed Broadband Network as an alternative and quicker way to connect homes and businesses to fibre.
Coverage
With 155 locations already launched, we’re already covering thousands of square kilometres with superfast broadband.”
Complaint
Seven complaints were received, one from eir and six from consumers.
Issue 1:
eir objected to the advertising campaign on the grounds that the claim “5G ready fixed broadband” was misleading as by definition 5G was not a fixed broadband product as it was delivered over a mobile network. They also noted that consumers in Ireland did not have 5G devices as they had not been released at the time of the advertising.
Issue 2:
eir considered that the claim “superfast broadband, not just for some but for everyone, everywhere” required substantiation and investigation.
Consumer complainants also objected to the use of the term “everyone, everywhere” in the advertising as it implied that the service was available all over the country when each complainant had been advised that the service was not yet available in their area.
One complainant also considered that the television advertisement was misleading as it had stated that existing customers were receiving the service, however, as an existing customer, the advertisers were unable to tell them when they could receive the service.
Issue 3:
The complainants considered that the television advertising was misleading as it stated that the advertisers were using and preparing infrastructure for 5G broadband when 5G was not generally available and had only been trialled in one location. One complainant also considered that technology could be confusing and by using terms such as 5G for a system that was not, was confusing to consumers.
Issue 4:
One consumer complainant considered that the website gave the impression that consumers could buy 5G broadband. They considered that the use of the term ‘5G ready’ without clarifying whether the product on sale was actually 5G was misleading, especially as they considered that the product was 4G.
Response
The advertisers, in setting out the 5G context, referred to the ComReg website of the release of 5G 3.6GHz spectrum commonly referred to as the “Pioneer Spectrum” for 5G. As referenced by ComReg in the award of licenses for use of the 5G Spectrum, and in addition to the existing mobile operators, they said that Imagine secured 5G spectrum licenses for the rollout of Fixed Broadband services.
They said that by definition and compliant with industry standard and design ,5G was an evolution of existing IP based 4G LTE technologies and infrastructure. While 4G and 4.5G LTE Advanced described exclusively 4G infrastructure and technologies, the industry 3GPP defined standard applying to LTE Advanced Pro Release 13 defined the core infrastructure and network hardware platform which enabled the deployment of 5G services and was accurately defined in the industry as ‘5G Ready’ infrastructure / network.
The advertisers went on that, in fact and by design, the deployment of 5G networks would be based on and continue to use existing 4G LTE Core and radio infrastructure and equipment with dual mode 4G and 5G mobile handsets, consumer devices and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).
Using the wider band 5G spectrum the deployment of “5G networks” would in fact be based, not entirely on completely new networks but built upon existing 4G LTE networks upgraded to the latest Release 13 of the LTE standard.
The advertisers explained that Advanced Pro 5G Ready base stations WERE capable of delivering both 4G and 5G services and were software upgradeable to 5G New Radio (5G NR) when 5G consumer devices become available. While the present availability of 5G devices was very limited in 2019, this was expected to increase significantly in Q1/Q2 2020 and will would include 5G CPE used to deliver 5G Fixed Broadband.
The advertisers said that while 5G and 4G services would coexist on the radio network it was expected that for some time both would in fact use the common 4G LTE Core network. They explained that as was the case for 2G,3G and for 4G, the full features of 5G would be delivered by way of hardware and software releases across the network over many years. These upgrades would see a significant improvement in services and user experience with current achievable speeds increasing from 300Mbps to 10Gbps+ and latency decreasing from 20ms to sub 1ms.
The advertisers addressed each issue raised by the complainants.
Issue 1:
The advertisers stated that the complainant appeared to have confused 5G as referring only to mobile communications when 5G was not solely a fixed broadband technology, nor was it solely a mobile technology. They said that the premise of the complaint was that there was a commonly understood definition of 5G that restricted it to use for mobile phone services when this was not the case at all. They said that 5G was a network technology that was expected to be deployed in many use cases from fixed broadband to mobile phones to driverless cars. They said that it was incorrect to claim that 5G was delivered over a ‘mobile phone network’ as 5G was radio technology that could be used for mobile phones but was also used in many other situations.
Issue 2:
In response to the complaint from eir, the advertisers stated that they were presuming that it was the reference to “everyone, everywhere” that eir were objecting to. They said that their use of “everyone, everywhere” was neither new nor unique. They said that the overall context was their desire to bring high-speed broadband to everyone everywhere and bring an end to the time when high-speed broadband availability was limited merely to the major urban conurbation and that that interpreting this as meaning their service was available to ‘everyone everywhere’ was a very particular interpretation and could only be arrived at by taking the reference quite out of context. The advertisers said that what was being communicated in the advertising was a vision and desire to extend the benefits of high-speed broadband to those forgotten parts of the country rather than an explicit promise to service ‘everyone everywhere’.
They said that preventing the use of the established and extensively used terminology “everyone, everywhere” in the context of the capability of 5G technology and other cellular services could have very serious and unintentional consequences. They said that since the beginning of mobile technology, the terminology and phrase “everyone, everywhere” was the established, extensively used and commonly understood terminology to describe the capability of wireless technologies (2G, 3G, 4G and 5G) to deliver services to everyone, everywhere. They considered that with the development of mobile data the terminology “everything to everyone, everywhere” which describes the capability to connect to the internet and “everything everywhere”, the capability to connect not just people but things (machine to machine, the internet to things) everywhere, had similarly become established, extensively used and commonly understood.
They said that such terminology was not used and could not be commonly misunderstood, to mean the specific plans of a specific operator. Mobile/Fixed Wireless operators are licensed to use specific spectrum. They said that these licenses did not impose conditions or obligations which required commercial operators to connect everyone everywhere. They said that the limitations to coverage and the availability of services varied from operator to operator and was the subject of considerable debate and awareness by consumers when making the choice of their provider.
They said that in terms of a consumer being ‘likely’ to regard their service as being available to ‘everyone everywhere’, when taken as a whole and in context and with regard to the action recommended to customers, that is to go to their website where customers must check their coverage, and this provided extensive details of their current and planned service availability down to specific Eircode level. They therefore considered that there could be no ambiguity regarding this.
The advertisers also referred to the fact that the name of the largest mobile operator in the UK was called Everything Everywhere (EE) which did not imply, suggest or was commonly understood to mean that their services must connect everything everywhere. They said that they were referencing this company to help provide further context that such a brand name was not intended to imply and could not reasonably be taken to mean quite literally ‘everything everywhere’. They said that the purpose and context of the reference was to demonstrate the commonly used industry terminology showing the ability of the technology to connect everything everywhere.
The advertisers said that the established use of the terminology “everyone, everywhere” in the context of the capability of the technology was used extensively across the industry, media and consumer communications. They said that the list was endless and included Governments, Regulators, the United Nations, the EU, Equipment Vendors (Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei), Service Providers and Software companies, Mobile Operators and consumer bodies.
In response to the consumer complaints on this issue, in addition to the above the advertisers stated that they advertised “superfast broadband” and that was what they provided. They said that their network was fully 5G ready and was built with fully 5G compliant technology including 5G new radio.
Issue 3:
The advertisers stated that their network was fully 5G ready and had been built with the latest generation of 5G compliant technology including 5G new radio. They said that it was incorrect to say that 5G was not yet available as 5G trials had already taken place.
The advertisers said that their network deployed from October 2018, and that being built at the time of the campaign was, and is, the latest release of LTE Advanced Pro using new technology 8T8R base stations and with the radio network accurately defined within the industry as ‘5G Ready’.
They said that that it was not clear to them what the actual basis of the objection was to the phrase “our new 5G fixed broadband network”. They said that whether or not the service was available generally had no bearing whatsoever on whether the network was, in itself, a 5G network, which they said it was. They said that this did not seem to be a valid basis to object to the use of the phrase and was not a valid basis on which to object to its use.
They also said that Imagine 4G LTE network had been in commercial deployment for over 2 years and the actual latest release LTE Advanced 5G Ready network had been commercially deployed for over 2 years and the actual latest release LTE Advanced 5G Ready network had been commercially deployed since October 2018, some 4 months prior to the commercial launch and advertising campaign.
Issue 4:
The advertisers stated that they advertised and provided superfast broadband and their website clearly pointed out that the network was “5G ready” which was factually correct. They considered that the complainant appeared to be objecting to something that they were not saying.
The advertisers referred to the release of 5G 3.6GHz spectrum which was commonly referred to as the “Pioneer Spectrum” for 5G that had been referenced by ComReg in the award of licences for use of the 5G Spectrum and that they had secured 5G spectrum licences for the rollout of fixed broadband services. They said that by definition and compliant with industry standard and design, 5G was an evolution of existing IP based 4G LTE technologies and infrastructure. While 4G and 4.5G LTE Advanced describe exclusively 4G infrastructure and technologies, the industry 3GPP defined standard applying to LTE Advanced Pro Release 13 defined the core infrastructure and network hardware platform which enabled the deployment of 5G services and was accurately defined in the industry as ‘5G Ready’ infrastructure/network.
The advertisers said that by design, the deployment of 5G networks would be based on and continues to use existing 4G LTE Core and radio infrastructure and equipment with dual mode 4G and 5G mobile handsets, consumer devices and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). They said that using the wider band 5G spectrum the deployment of “5G networks” would be based, not entirely on completely new networks, but built upon existing 4G LTE networks upgraded to the latest Release 13 of the LTE standard. They said that Advanced Pro 5G Ready base stations were capable of delivering both 4G and 5G services and were software upgradeable to 5G New Radio (5GNR) when 5G consumer devices become available. They said that while the availability of 5G devices at the time was very limited, it was expected to increase significantly in Q1/Q2 2020 and would include 5G CPE used to deliver 5G fixed broadband.
While 5G and 4G services would co-exist on the radio network, they said that it was expected that for some time both would use the common 4G LTE core network. They said that as was the case for 2G, 3G and is the case for 4G, the full features of 5G would be delivered by way of hardware and software releases across the network over many years and that these upgrades would see a significant improvement in services and user experience with current achievable speeds increasing from 300Mbps to 10Gbps+ and latency decreasing from 20ms to sub 1ms.
As stated previously, their network deployed from October 2018 and that being built at the time of the campaign was, and is, the latest release of LTE Advanced Pro using new technology 8T8R base stations and with the radio network accurately defined within the industry as ‘5G Ready’. They said that they considered their use of the term ‘5G Ready’ was not ambiguous. They said that their advertising did not claim that the service was 5G since that would be misleading, but that the service was most definitely 5G Ready. They believed that the use of such a term was critical to avoid ambiguity since it clearly stated that it was not 5G but instead ‘5G Ready’. They refuted the interpretation that ‘5G Ready’ could be confused with 5G, as it was beyond doubt that there must be a difference between these quite different claims. They also said that in the context of a future proofed technology in comparison to other technology solutions, it may be important to consumers that any service they choose to obtain actually be ‘5G Ready’ and capable of further enhancement in the future in line with the industry roadmap. They did not consider that it was reasonable to withhold that information from them or from the market.
Finally, they said that the statement on their website “our 5G ready fixed broadband delivers superfast broadband” was factually correct and accurately described the service available to purchase as the time on the existing deployed LTE Advanced Pro infrastructure which was itself accurately defined as ‘5G Ready’ and not dependent on any further 5G enhancement.
Further Information: Issue 1:
Desktop research by the ASAI executive showed that 5G was described by the telecommunications regulators in Ireland and the UK as
a) “mobile technology”, “next generation of mobile technology” and “5g … would enable connectivity between wireless devices” on ComReg.ie (1)
b) “wireless technology”, on Ofcom.org.uk (2)
It was also noted that ComReg’s Irish Communications Market: Key Data Report for Quarter 2 2019 on Fixed and Mobile Broadband Pricing Data (3) included Imagine in a list of operators who advertised standalone and bundled fixed broadband services.
1. https://www.comreg.ie/industry/radio-spectrum/about-5g/
2. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/what-is-5g
3. https://www.comreg.ie/publication/quarterly-key-data-report-q2-2019
Conclusion
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaints and the advertisers’ response.
Issue 1 – Not Upheld:
The Committee noted the desktop research carried out by the ASAI Executive including information contained within ComReg’s Irish Communications Market: Key Data Report for Quarter 2 2019 on Fixed and Mobile Broadband Pricing Data which included Imagine in a list of operators who advertised standalone and bundled fixed broadband services. In view of the fact that the advertisers were defined by ComReg as providing a fixed broadband service, the Committee did not consider that the description of the service as “fixed broadband” was in breach of the Code.
Issue 2 – Upheld:
The Committee noted the response that the terminology and phrase “everyone, everywhere” was the established, extensively used and commonly understood terminology to describe the capability of wireless technologies (2G, 3G, 4G and 5G) to deliver services to ‘everyone, everywhere’. However, in the context of a campaign promoting an individual organisation’s own service offering, they considered that the statement implied that that service would be available to everyone, everywhere.
The Committee considered that the claim that the superfast broadband service was available to “everyone, everywhere” had not been substantiated and was therefore likely to mislead. In the circumstances, they considered that it was in breach of Sections 4.1, 4.4, 4.9, 4.10, of the Code.
Issue 3 – Upheld:
The Committee noted the advertisers’ explanation in relation to the infrastructure involved and that the television advertisement referred to “companies around the world are switching to new 5g fixed broadband networks” and had claimed “With 1000’s of customers already connected, we are investing and already building our new 5g fixed broadband network.” The Committee also noted that, at the time of the advertisement, the availability of 5G devices was very limited. They further noted that the television advertisement had only referred to “5G” and not to “5G ready”.
While they noted that the advertisement had not claimed that the 5G network was built, by stating that “1000’s of customers” were already connected, the Committee considered the clear implication was that those customers were availing of a 5G service. As this was not the case at the time of the advertising, the Committee considered that the television advertisement was likely to mislead consumers and was in breach of Code Sections 4.1 and 4.4.
Issue 4 – Not Upheld:
The Committee noted that the website advertising had referred to the service as “our 5G ready Fixed Broadband delivers superfast broadband”. The Committee noted the information provided that “the LTE Advanced Pro Release 13 defined the core infrastructure and network hardware platform which enabled the deployment of 5G services and was accurately defined in the industry as ‘5G Ready’ infrastructure/network.” The Committee noted that the advertising claim was that the 5G ready Fixed Broadband “delivers superfast broadband”. The Complaints Committee considered that the advertising claim had clearly stated that the product was “5G ready” rather than “5G” and did not consider that the website advertising was in breach of the Code.
Action Required: The advertising should not reappear in its current form. The Committee advised the advertisers to ensure that their advertising did not overstate the availability of the service.
