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Orange ad banned by the ASA for being misleading


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Old 30-06-2010, 19:17
Thine Wonk
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Just in today - remember the complaint that 3 made to the ASA about 6 months ago regarding Orange's ads where they claimed to have the biggest 3G network? well unsurprisingly Orange does not have the biggest 3G network and they have been ordered not to use the ad any more and criticised for misleading the public.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010...-orange-advert

The ASA has checked with Ofcom and although ofcom won't publish the detailed data they have privately told the ASA that Orange is not the biggest 3G network and therefore the claims were unfounded.

Orange used industry methods and measures that favoured them and compared them against a different method and measure for competitor networks. They also tried to claim that their figures were based on peoples homes and acknowledged to the ASA that they knew 3 had the bigger network in terms of area coverage.

Interesting stuff, Orange should be ashamed as it seems they tried to misrepresent the figures and mislead potential customers in to signing up based on a headline that was untrue and didn't stand up to scrutiny.
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Old 30-06-2010, 19:26
DXRulz
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They are by far NOT the UK's biggest 3G network cause they tell you that you can get 3G+/HSDPA signal in places you can't even get 2G/2.5G so yeah i can understand why that ad has been banned!!
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Old 30-06-2010, 19:35
Thine Wonk
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The Orange response was funny, it seems they still don't 'get' the fact that they DO NOT have the biggest 3G network and that Three does.


***http://www.itpro.co.uk/624727/asa-ba...+PRO+-+News%29
The advert is no longer allowed to be shown and ASA has warned Orange not to compare its service to its competitors “unless they could demonstrate that such claims were based on directly comparable measurement and reporting methods.”

Orange has accepted the ruling but has released a statement saying it is less than happy with the outcome and believed the decision "effectively gags" companies talking about their own achievements.

A spokesperson said: “What's of most frustration is the company who raised the complaint, 3, have themselves started to use the same claim that we have been banned from using - the biggest 3G network by population. This is absurd and makes a mockery of the ASA's ruling."
***

Yes Orange the reason why 3 can say it is because the network is the largest however you measure it, the only way it isn't is if you use Orange's comparison of taking a different measurement method for Orange as you do for 3.

Here's the full adjudication from the ASA

http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and...ADJ_48669.aspx

The ad breached the following rules

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

Action

The ad should not appear again in its current form. We told Orange not to compare their population coverage with that of competitors unless they could demonstrate that such claims were based on directly comparable measurement and reporting methods.
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Old 30-06-2010, 19:38
DXRulz
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The difference between 3 and Orange is 3 will actually get 3G/HSDPA where they tell you it will, Orange fails in this area. The coverage checker for the social club up the road from me and where i work says full 3G/HSDPA signal but when you actually get there, you don't get any, not even outside!!
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Old 30-06-2010, 19:49
Thine Wonk
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The difference between 3 and Orange is 3 will actually get 3G/HSDPA where they tell you it will, Orange fails in this area. The coverage checker for the social club up the road from me and where i work says full 3G/HSDPA signal but when you actually get there, you don't get any, not even outside!!
That's because Orange use their own method to determine the measurements which I believe has a lower signal threshold than some of the other industry comparisons.

I believe there are 2 accepted standards of coverage measurement, 1 which is more favourable than the other in terms of signal in db / threshold for outdoor coverage.

Orange used their own for their comparison, then compared it to 3's published figures which uses a higher threshold of acceptable outdoor coverage.

Understandably Ofcom has set the ASA straight using their independent figures and research.

When the complaint was made Orange came out saying they didn't mean coverage they meant population (homes covered) to try and get away with it, but even that claim is ambiguous so no more coverage comparisons for Orange unless they can clearly back it up with like for like figures.
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Old 30-06-2010, 19:52
Thine Wonk
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What does stand out is how poor some of the other networks are 3G coverage wise according to Orange figures:

Vodafone at 85% and O2 at 80%.

Ouch
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Old 30-06-2010, 20:03
dave81uk
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I've travelled around N.I and have yet to see 3G on my phone, infact I live in a supposed Orange 3G area, I can't even get a signal inside and outside only 2g
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Old 30-06-2010, 20:07
legends wear 7
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What does stand out is how poor some of the other networks are 3G coverage wise according to Orange figures:

Vodafone at 85% and O2 at 80%.

Ouch
Yet vodafone are the ones to have cleaned up the best network awards this year.
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Old 30-06-2010, 20:18
Thine Wonk
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Yet vodafone are the ones to have cleaned up the best network awards this year.
Yeah to be honest Vodafone is a pretty good all rounder, pretty good coverage, capacity and reliability, much better customer service than other networks like 3, a good choice of handsets, good marketing and customer feedback generally. With 3 you have to bear in mind that the savings you get from lower prices and bigger network investment are because of the savings made by having an offshore call centre.
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Old 30-06-2010, 20:23
dave81uk
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Yeah to be honest Vodafone is a pretty good all rounder, pretty good coverage, capacity and reliability, much better customer service than other networks like 3, a good choice of handsets, good marketing and customer feedback generally.
With 3 you have to bear in mind that the savings you get from lower prices and bigger network investment are because of the offshore call centre.
Yeah i'd agree with that, Each network has there strong points but Vodafone is a pretty good all rounder
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Old 30-06-2010, 22:07
Thine Wonk
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looks like it will be in all the papers tomorrow, bad news for Orange

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereport...apping_3g.html

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE65T2AL20100630

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010...-orange-advert

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-i...aims-40089391/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/30/orange_3uk_asa/

inc the Financial times (need to register) and many other newspapers.
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Old 30-06-2010, 23:49
Aye Up
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TBH thought I work for Orange I always felt uncomfortable using this information. It was always subjective and how information was/is manipulated. Glad 3 won out on this one.
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