Comcast Being Urged to Stop Touting "10G"

At last week's SCTE Expo in Denver, you couldn't look any direction on the trade show floor without seeing some cable operator flying a giant "10G" sign. 10G is the brand name that the cable industry is using for its new DOCSIS 4.0 platform, which promised to offer up to 10 Gpbs download speeds over existin coaxial cable.

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However, a national ad watchdog (the National Advertising Division) is recommending that Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, stop using 10G in its ads, Comcast's 10G claim, the organization explained, conveys a message that all consumers on the network can get speeds up to 10 Gbit/s. But such a claim is not substantiated, NAD argued, given that such speeds are currently available to residential customers only on Comcast's fiber-based Gigabit Pro service.

The impact of the recommendation could reach farther than just Comcast, as several large cable operators such as Mediacom and Spectrum are touting 10G in their advertising as well. The complaint that led to the NAD's decision was filed by Verizon and T-Mobile, which is ironic because wireless carriers themselves have been accused of sowing the seeds of confusion among consumers with their own 5G branding.