PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An advertising watchdog on Tuesday asked Time Warner Cable Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. to drop claims that they run fiber-optic networks.
Verizon Communications Inc., which operates rival television and Internet services using fiber optics, had complained about both companies' cable ads to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the advertising industry's self-regulatory body.
The NAD said both cable TV companies describe their networks as "fiber-optic" in their advertising when in fact they are referring to networks that include both fiber and traditional, coaxial copper cable. The NAD noted that the companies described their networks as "hybrid fiber coax" in regulatory filings.
A purely fiber-optic network transmits data faster and has greater capacity than a hybrid. Verizon has been building a network that extends fiber optics to the home, rather than just a hub in the neighborhood, with traditional cable connecting from there to the residence.
Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest cable TV company, is appealing the decision. The New York-based company said its network is fiber-optic because more than 90 percent of the cables are fiber. But the ad watchdog said such claims can be "misleading" if it calls attention to the most dominant characteristic.
The NAD also asked Cox to stop customer testimonials saying that Verizon would quote one price but bill at a higher price, and put a customer on phone hold for more than 30 minutes. But the watchdog upheld a Cox ad in which a customer said many channels at Cox were not available on Verizon's FiOS TV service.
Cox, based in Atlanta, said it will take the NAD's decision into account in future ads.