News

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has issued a ruling banning several historical 5G-related ads from EE. The decision came after complaints were made by Vodafone, Three UK, and a member of the public regarding EE’s claims of owning the “UK’s No.1 5G network.” The main argument against the ads was that they did not provide enough information about the metrics used to support the claims of superiority. The ASA upheld most of the complaints, stating that the ads either lacked sufficient information for consumers to understand the comparison or did not adequately disclose the testing methodology.

Consequently, the ASA has prohibited the ads from being used again, although this is not a significant task for EE as the ads in question were last used in August 2020. The ruling indicated that EE should present the basis of comparative claims clearly and ensure that the ads provide enough information for consumers to verify comparisons or easily find such information.

The ASA’s investigation and subsequent ruling, which occurred nearly three years after the ads were last aired, appears to have little impact other than advising EE to be more cautious in the future.

Disputes among operators regarding 5G advertising claims are not new. In 2020, Three faced bans on its ads due to the misleading nature of the slogan “if it’s not Three, it’s not real 5G.” The same year, the ASA also banned multiple ads from EE for claiming an “unrivalled” and “unbeatable” 5G network, as well as for asserting to be the UK’s “No.1 network.”

Additionally, the ASA recently banned some ads from ISP 6G Internet, stating that the combination of the company’s name and advertising could mislead customers into believing they could purchase non-existent 6G mobile services.

In the UK, discussions about the future of 5G will continue among operators at Connected Britain, the country’s largest digital economy event.

Other news includes Dish seeking an extension for the purchase of T-Mobile’s low-band spectrum and Safaricom’s M-Pesa entering the battle for Ethiopia’s mobile money market against TeleBirr. Furthermore, 6G Internet faced regulatory action due to consumer confusion caused by its advertising.

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