Written by Mary Lennighan
The Advertising Standards Authority has come down hard on UK ISP 6G Internet for misleading the UK public over the existence of 6G mobile technology.
Having investigated a complaint against 6G Internet, the UK watchdog ordered it to pull its offending advertising, and its ruling suggests that the company might now struggle to use its brand name at all. Indeed, a quick look at the ISP’s website in the wake of the ASA ruling shows that 6G Internet is now styling itself as 6Gi and has added ‘Fixed Wireless Broadband’ to its logo.
The use of cleverly-worded adverts to persuade customers they are getting something better or faster than the competition could offer is nothing new in telecoms. And in most cases the telcos get away with it. But in this instance it’s pretty clear why the ASA stepped in.
“The complainant challenged whether the company name ‘6G Internet’ misleadingly implied that a sixth-generation mobile network existed and was able to be used by consumers,” the ASA explained when it published its ruling on Wednesday.
It then shared a lengthy explanation as to why 6G Internet felt it had not breached any rules. The firm said it has been providing home broadband services under that brand name for a decade and has not had any complaints from consumers, Ofcom, DCMS or elsewhere regarding any confusion. Further, given that 6G does not yet exist and it was clearly pitching its service as a home broadband offering, 6G Internet said it did not believe customers would think it was providing a future mobile network.
