New advertising guidelines came into force on 1 April 2012 which means internet providers will be required to provide realistic speed estimates, and cannot describe a broadband service as unlimited if it has certain restrictions.

The new regulations require internet service providers to ensure that if they are including estimated speeds in their marketing, they must demonstrate at least 10% of their customers will be able to achieve the claimed performance.

Under the guidelines broadband companies can no longer describe a broadband service as unlimited if a customer can be charged extra or have their service suspended for breaching a limit, or if traffic management is implemented which severely affects performance.