By all means market your product - just don't call it fibre... Complete scam.

It's confusing because of the big push around 'fibre'.

Yes a well informed consumer will understand what they're getting.  But if the lay-person has another impression and Vodafone aren't doing anything to dispel that, they've got some level of blame.

Can't wait to see how this plays out.

sbiddle:

 

In many countries (including the UK) copper based FTTC services are sold as a "fibre" connection.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again now.. I actually don't see anything confusing about the FibreX product.

 

That's probably because you're posting on a technology forum and thus are likely to know what FibreX actually is.

I would guess that for 90% of New Zealand, seeing a product from an ISP with the word "Fibre" in the product name would suggest that it's part of the much-publicised UFB rollout.

It's misleading, it's gross, and it reminds me of Gattung's infamous "confusion as its chief marketing tool" line from back in the day.

Fingers crossed for a heavy fine and preferably a forced re-naming of the product.

Good, long overdue, it's utterly misleading. When you throw in them also refusing offer UFB services to customers in HFC areas, it looks even worse. I hope they get a record fine, and it's a shame that the executives who signed off on it can't be thrown in jail for a few years.

lol round two? this will be entertaining to see.

sbiddle:

 

In many countries (including the UK) copper based FTTC services are sold as a "fibre" connection.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again now.. I actually don't see anything confusing about the FibreX product.

 

I guess there is a lot of rage bottled up at Voda, and "FibreX" is a proxy for releasing that anger. As for the rage reasons, well the search function works well on GKZ...

Great news. I was one of the first people to get gigabit FibreX and I can tell you its not even close to gigabit Fibre.

As of last week they are still door bashing trying to promote it. I politely advised the guy not to promote it in the area and to find a new job.

shrub:Great news. I was one of the first people to get gigabit FibreX and I can tell you its not even close to gigabit Fibre.

In what way? Always slower, or suffering during congestion?

gbwelly:

 

shrub:Great news. I was one of the first people to get gigabit FibreX and I can tell you its not even close to gigabit Fibre.

 

In what way? Always slower, or suffering during congestion?

 

Yeah, also curious on that. We've done a lot of testing ourselves, plus there's independent testing, which shows the performance is comparable. Note that there isn't any congestion on the network - it's pretty lightly loaded at the moment.

noroad:

 

Its about time, calling an HFC network "Fibre X" is a blatant attempt to confuse the general public into thinking they will get a FTTH fibre service when they re getting a co-ax copper service. If the Vodafone marketing was in any way valid then nearly all xDSL services could be called "Fibre Z" as the DSLAM/MSAN is almost always fibre fed.

 

We are proud of FibreX – we believe it is a great ultra-fast broadband choice and don’t want people to confuse it with other fibre access technologies.

We want consumers to know that FibreX is a true competitor to full fibre offering comparable download speeds, but with a better install experience and at a lower price point.

chevrolux:

 

Good stuff.

 

I thought they had already done an investigation and decided it was OK though?

 

In 2017, the Advertising Standards Authority looked into our advertising of FibreX and ruled it was not misleading.  They noted that consumers are more interested in the speed than the technology behind their internet service, and that FibreX performs to a comparable standard to other fibre access technologies.

sbiddle:

 

noroad:

 

Its about time, calling an HFC network "Fibre X" is a blatant attempt to confuse the general public into thinking they will get a FTTH fibre service when they re getting a co-ax copper service. If the Vodafone marketing was in any way valid then nearly all xDSL services could be called "Fibre Z" as the DSLAM/MSAN is almost always fibre fed.

 

 

In many countries (including the UK) copper based FTTC services are sold as a "fibre" connection.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again now.. I actually don't see anything confusing about the FibreX product.

 

 

 

The ASA in the UK agrees with you

ChrisVodafoneNZ:

 

noroad:

 

Its about time, calling an HFC network "Fibre X" is a blatant attempt to confuse the general public into thinking they will get a FTTH fibre service when they re getting a co-ax copper service. If the Vodafone marketing was in any way valid then nearly all xDSL services could be called "Fibre Z" as the DSLAM/MSAN is almost always fibre fed.

 

 

 

 

We are proud of FibreX – we believe it is a great ultra-fast broadband choice and don’t want people to confuse it with other fibre access technologies.

 

We want consumers to know that FibreX is a true competitor to full fibre offering comparable download speeds, but with a better install experience and at a lower price point.

 

You don't want people to confuse it with other fibre technologies but you deliberately hooked into the word 'fibre' to collect on the hype surrounding UFB.

Competitor? Sure. Just call it something else.  Sorry but Vodafone created this situation with a poor product branding decision and now they need to live with the consequences of this.

I'm sure the HFC product is a competitor to UFB. That's not the point that's really rarked everyone up.

Chris, I appreciate you're with Vodafone and are posting here under their name, so this isn't a personal critique. Your corporate backers failed here, and it's a shame it's taken a lawsuit to see it realised, but this was a deliberate move and there's no running from it.

Lias:

 

Good, long overdue, it's utterly misleading. When you throw in them also refusing offer UFB services to customers in HFC areas, it looks even worse. I hope they get a record fine, and it's a shame that the executives who signed off on it can't be thrown in jail for a few years.

 

By definition, FibreX and full fibre are both ultra-fast broadband.  It is not a registered trade mark and it is not specific to the Government’s UFB Initiative.