The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is reportedly looking at assessing complaints from customers over misleading claims concerning the iPad 3’s 4G mobile network support.
This follows legal proceedings by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which forced Apple to refund consumers mislead by the company’s advertising.
The new iPad’s 4G compatibility is limited to 4G LTE networks within the 700MHz and 2100Mhz frequencies, predominantly used in the US and Canada. Australia’s only current ‘mature’ 4G LTE network is Telstra’s, which runs in the 1800MHz band.
The US and Canadian frequencies are also incompatible with all of Europe (and the proposed UK frequencies). The UK is auctioning its 4G frequency sometime at year end, once Ofcom finalises the process. The frequencies available will be 800MHz and 2.6 GHz, similar to our European counterparts.
Everything Everywhere, owners of T-Mobile and Orange, have made an application to Ofcom to launch their own 4G network ahead of this auction, on its own 1800MHz spectrum. Ofcom has said yes, but is waiting for the consultation process to conclude, due early April.
As CBR reported earlier, none of these proposed networks would work with Apple’s new device.
The ASA has asked consumers to lodge a complaint if they have any concerns about the iPad ad.
