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Mr. Seán Canney, T.D., Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development welcomes the recent introduction of new guidelines relating to the advertising of mobile phone and broadband services by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), the independent self-regulatory body committed to promoting the highest standards of marketing communications in Ireland.

The guidelines will complement the existing ASAI Code in ensuring that certain marketing terms used by telecommunications operators convey clear meanings that are not misleading to consumers.

The new guidelines were developed as an action resulting from the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce, which is chaired by Seán Canney TD. The purpose of the Taskforce is to identify measures that could deliver significant improvements in access to high-quality mobile and broadband services throughout Ireland.

These guidelines, announced today, will come into force on the 1^st September 2019.         

The guidelines outline the general legal requirements that telecom operators must follow when using marketing terms for mobile phone and broadband services and also provides guidance for the telecoms industry concerning the use of the following specific marketing terms to describe telecommunications in the Irish market:

• Coverage and Availability
• Speed claims
• Fibre

The guidelines also include advice on information resources for consumers, substantiation and terms and conditions / general claims.

For full details on the new guidelines please visit asai.ie.

Minister of State Canney commented: 

I welcome the publication of the guidelines by the ASAI and acknowledge the work that has been undertaken in bringing a key 2019 deliverable to fruition. One of the aims of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce is to improve consumers’ knowledge of the different types of telecommunications services on offer. With the publication of these guidelines, the ASAI has gone a long way to ensuring that consumers will have greater clarity over what they can realistically expect to receive from their broadband or mobile phone package. I look forward to the guidelines being fully implemented by industry.