Orcon says their new TV advertisement that was released on Facebook yesterday to some criticism shines a spotlight on supposed unnecessary broadband traffic management policies by big telcos, including Vodafone and Spark.

Orcon says an estimated 81 percent of Kiwi internet users (the collective market share of Vodafone and Spark) could be having their internet artificially slowed down by ISPs in an attempt to regulate network traffic and minimise bandwidth costs.

Users should look at the fine print before signing up to broadband plans that could be unnecessarily slowing them down.

Bandwidth throttling or ‘traffic management’ is the slowing of internet traffic by an ISP in an attempt to regulate network costs. Orcon General Manager, Mike Shirley, says, “It’s essentially prioritising types of traffic so at busy times of the day, like in the evening, or for peer-to-peer use, some consumers will likely notice their internet speed slowing”.

Orcon says they have invested heavily to ensure there is enough bandwidth for both local and international traffic, in order to not throttle traffic. However they note they “may prioritise traffic to deal with major unexpected network congestion events”.

The new campaign literally takes aim at the big telcos, with poison darts.

“If Orcon can invest in enough bandwidth to not throttle customers, it’s unfair that a large number of Kiwis who are signed up with the big telcos can’t have the full speed internet they deserve at all times of the day”.

All New Zealand ISPs have product disclosure statements on their websites that outline their traffic management policies.