The National Advertising Division has once again slapped the wrists of both top U.S. cable companies, Comcast and Charter Communications, for TV commercials that disparage emerging fixed wireless access (FWA) home internet services from T-Mobile and Verizon.
On Thursday, the NAD said that it had determined that Comcast made false claims that Verizon 5G Home is “ineffective, slow, unreliable and prone to subpar performance due to congestion” in Stink Eye, a 60-second radio commercial, and Life With Verizon, a 15-second TV spot. (The NAD put out this statement.)
Comcast said in its own statement that it will comply with the NAD's recommendations.
Earlier, the NAD put out another statement, claiming Charter’s “Game Time” and “Move Out” spots inaccurately disparage T-Mobile 5G Home Internet.
The NAD said Charter should “discontinue the express claim, ’Whereas 5G Home Internet is known for slow speeds during peak times and unreliable connections.’ ”
Also, the group said Charter should “avoid conveying the message that T-Mobile home internet has a reputation for slow speeds and unreliable connections during peak times.” (The NAD did, however, validate a claim made by research company Ookla that 20% of T-Mobile FWA customers get shorted their listed internet speeds during peak usage hours.)
Charter also agreed to abide by the self-regulatory body's determination. Charter released this statement to Next TV: “Charter will comply with NAD’s recommendations and we welcome NAD’s recognition of our right — with certain modifications — to distinguish our internet service from T-Mobile’s by touting product differences that provide meaningful benefits to consumers.”
T-Mobile and Verizon have attracted more than 7 million customers in just over two years for new super-inexpensive services that tap 5G cellular for home internet use. The two companies now control 6% of U.S. broadband market share, with AT&T just ramping up its FWA service.
Conversely, Comcast and Charter now control the fastest growing consumer wireless services in America.
The whole cats-and-dogs-living-together arrangement is resulting in a lot of wild claims being made in ads.
Last November, or example, Comcast was told by the NAD to take down or modify Xfinity Mobile ads that disparage T-Mobile's wireless service.
That came determination came around the same time that Comcast started running other TV spots accusing T-Mobile of turning its customers into "vampires," with an allegedly congested FWA network that forces users to get their work done in the wee hours.
