TalkTalk reprimanded for ‘free’ broadband offer

Talk Talk has received a slap on the wrist from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), over an advert promising ‘free’ broadband with its landline package.

The advertisement was found to be misleading after it failed to indicate that the ‘free’ broadband would only be available to households living within TalkTalk’s LLU coverage. Consequently, this would leave a fifth of the country still needing to pay for the connection.

The ASA have told TalkTalk to discontinue the advertisement, which states: "When you get your landline from us we give you broadband that's free." after it spurred a number of complaints from the public.

A representative from the ASA stated: "The ASA noted the free broadband service was not available in all areas of the UK due to the limited coverage of LLU.

"We acknowledged that TalkTalk did not have control of LLU but nevertheless considered that the ad did not make sufficiently clear that the free broadband service was not available to all TalkTalk customers. We concluded that the ad was likely to mislead."

TalkTalk have agreed that future advertisements in the campaign would clarify the issue.