• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, September 16, 2013

The NAD says that some of Comcast's ads for the service should clarify that the $99-per-month price mentioned in the ad is only the introductory fee. The group also said Comcast should tweak ads implying that its triple-play broadband service connection are faster than the top broadband speeds offered by the competitor Century Link.

Comcast's print and TV ads for its $99 triple-play service include statements like “Xfinity gives you the fastest internet,” and “up to 4x faster than CenturyLink,” according to the ruling.

CenturyLink challenged the ads, arguing that its top speed -- available only to some people who pay for stand-alone Web service -- was faster than speeds available through Comcast's triple-play package.

But the NAD said Comcast's triple-play service (which offers connections of up to 25 Mbps) is faster than CenturyLink's triple-play offering (up to around 10 Mbps, according to Comcast). At the same time, CenturyLink's offers stand-alone service of up to 40 Mbps in some parts of the country -- making it faster in those areas than Comcast's triple-play service.

The NAD said that Comcast “provided a reasonable basis for its overall speed claims,” but should nonetheless “more narrowly tailor” its triple-play ads. Specifically, the NAD said Comcast should “separate its claims regarding its offering and its broader overall speed claim.”

The ruling included a statement by Comcast that it “will take NAD’s concerns with respect to the clarity of this price offer into consideration in formulating its future advertising.”