You are here: silicon.com > Networks > Mobile & Wireless

Mobile & Wireless

O2 ticked off for superiority claims

Vodafone goes for tit-for-tat approach to complaints

Tags: advertising standards authority, vodafone, o2

By Jo Best

Published: 9 November 2005 17:10 GMT

O2 has found itself on the wrong end of an adjudication from ad watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after rival operator Vodafone filed a complaint.

Vodafone's gripe with the recently acquired company relates to an O2 ad campaign.

O2 press adverts claimed "Best ever UK mobile network performance beating all national call success rates previously published by Oftel" within a specified period.

Vodafone filed an objection to the campaign saying call success rates were not enough to justify a claim on 'best ever network performance'; that Vodafone had beaten O2's 99.2 per cent call success rate; and that the ads would make people think O2 had a stronger signal than other networks.

The watchdog didn't uphold the last complaint but backed Vodafone's other grievances, saying the audit methodology on call success rates used by O2 and Vodafone made it impossible to say who could boast of being the best.

The ASA also concluded that being the best network depended on more factors than call success, including network coverage and capacity. It said: "We concluded 'Best ever UK mobile network performance' was too wide-reaching a claim to be substantiated by merely an operators' call success rate. We told O2 not to make the claim on the basis of its call success rate."

The advertising watchdog also told operators to be carefully of making claims about superiority unless they can be "unquestionably" backed up.

The spat is not the first time the pair have faced off through the ASA. O2 recently complained to the regulator about Vodafone's 'best bar none' campaign. That complaint was also upheld.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure
Read and write about internet access at the airports of the world at atlarge.com. Be the first to rate an airport, win champagne...


  • Jobs
IT Support Engineer (Terminal Services,AD,VMWare,Win Server 2003)

Candidates MUST have Terminal Services 2003, Windows Server 2003, AD, Vmware is preferable & Networking (VPN, Routers/Comms) & basic troubleshooting ...

CRM Campaign Automation Consultant-00046034

CRM Campaign Automation Consultant-00046034 Description Campaign Automation Consultants Accenture are currently seeking a number of Business ...

Campaign and Data Manager - London

Managing workflow for all campaign requests Person & Skills Specification - 2+ years experience of ad serving and campaign management using Accipiter ...

CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: