The Competition Bureau received a complaint in September 2003 alleging that a telecommunications company's advertisements and claims regarding their high speed internet were not in compliance with the Competition Act. In their advertising and on their Web site, comparisons were made between their own high speed internet service and their competitor's, using terminology, such as "crawl", "faster", "top speed" and "fastest". Other representations included references to their service, such as "dedicated access/service" and "consistently fast".

A Bureau examination conducted under the misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices provisions of the Competition Act, subsections 52(1) and 74.01(1), revealed that some of the claims in question could have raised concerns under the Act as some of the company's representations could not be substantiated.

As a result of Bureau contact, the claims were removed from their advertising and marketing materials. The company also clarified the meaning of the phrase "dedicated access/service" by adding a footnote in their advertising. It is now clearly indicated that the dedicated access portion was from the customers' premises to their switching facility. Also, the claim that the company's high speed internet was "consistently fast" was found to be substantiated by proper testing.

In addition, the company instituted a compliance program to ensure that:

• all advertising materials would be reviewed by legal counsel for compliance before being used;
• a compliance education session would be required annually for advertising personnel;
• a message would be issued from senior management twice a year to reinforce the importance of compliance; and
• all advertising managers would be required to review and confirm their understanding of the Bureau's guidelines on advertising on a yearly basis.

The issue was resolved in July 2004.

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