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The High Court has determined that broadband providers will be allowed to continue describing their offerings as 'fibre' even if they also use copper cabling to connect to homes and businesses, following a judicial review brought by CityFibre.
The infrastructure firm was challenging a previous ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that had determined the use of the term for fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) connections was not misleading.
However, the High Court rejected CityFibre's argument that reasonably well-informed consumers would expect the term 'fibre' to only apply to products that used this cabling technology throughout the connectivity (fibre-to-the-premises, or FTTP technology). Instead, it agreed with the ASA's stance, which found that most consumers consider the term a generic descriptor for modern broadband.
The ruling is a blow for FTTP-focused companies such as CityFibre, which have long argued that the description of partial FTTC connectivity as 'fibre' by the UK's biggest ISPs is harmful to the full fibre industry, and leads many people to mistakenly believe they have such a connection, when in fact they are relying on FTTC.
Industry groups such as the FTTH Council Europe have claimed this misconception also hinders the rollout of full fibre solutions, as consumers fail to realise the potential benefits of FTTP.
Chief executive of CityFibre Greg Mesch said he was disappointed by the ruling, which will mean consumers continue to be misled into thinking their copper-reliant connections are fibre broadband.
He added: "The decision is particularly disappointing in light of the recent progress made in other countries, which have restricted misleading advertising and established clear rules to distinguish full fibre from inferior copper-based services."
With full fibre deployments extending all the time, and millions more homes and businesses to be connected to such networks in the coming years, Mr Mesch said it is essential that consumers can make an informed choice about the services they are getting.
"The technical benefits of full fibre infrastructure are unquestioned and we will continue to work closely with DCMS, Ofcom and the ASA to ensure consumers are able to distinguish full fibre networks from copper-based alternatives."
