Ofcom said BT Business, Daisy, KCOM, TalkTalk Business, Virgin Media, XLN and Zen have signed up to the voluntary Code to offer reliable information on broadband speeds with enterprises in the UK.

Under the new guidelines, businesses in the UK will be getting the most reliable information on their broadband speeds — from telecom network operators — before they sign up for a new contract.

Ofcom says it will monitor whether telecom operators are actually sharing the actual information on the broadband speed with UK-based businesses.

ISPs will offer

# provides an accurate estimate of their expected broadband speeds before signing up. This covers both download and upload speeds, which are particularly important to businesses as some may need to send large amounts of data

# manage their business customers’ speed-related problems effectively

# offer them the right to exit their contract without penalty if speeds fall below the minimum guaranteed level

# give additional relevant speeds information at the point of sale

# provide further detailed speeds information in writing to the customer after the sale

As part of a new Ofcom Code, providers also commit to resolve any problems that businesses have with broadband speeds effectively, and allow customers to exit their contract at any point if speeds fall below a minimum guaranteed level.

BT Business, Daisy Communications, KCOM, TalkTalk Business, Virgin Media, XLN and Zen provide broadband service to around two thirds of small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The action from Ofcom follows feedback from SMEs about their confusion on the actual speed of their broadband service compared to the headline maximum speed used in advertising.

All telecom service providers were not giving personalised speed estimates to businesses during the sales process. 20 percent of SMEs were not satisfied they were getting the speeds they had paid for, according to a study by Ofcom.

Under Ofcom’s new Code, businesses taking a new broadband service will, for the first time, enjoy a similar level of protection as residential broadband users – whose interests are already safeguarded under an existing Code.

“So broadband companies have agreed to give clear and accurate information on speeds upfront so business customers can make more informed decisions. We’ve also made it easier for businesses to walk away from their broadband contract without penalty if speeds fall below the levels guaranteed by their provider,” said Lindsey Fussell, director of Ofcom’s Consumer Group.