Comcast is ditching its Xfinity 10G network’s misleading branding

Comcast has agreed to abandon its “Xfinity 10G network” product branding after advertising watchdogs concluded that it could cause consumers to think they will all experience “significantly faster speeds than are available on 5G networks,” which isn’t true.

As such, Comcast’s marketing of its service as the “Xfinity 10G network” caused two main concerns: that customers would be misled to believe the service is twice as fast as 5G (which can actually deliver up to 20Gbps); and that 10Gbps network speeds are achievable across every Xfinity service package. In reality, Ars Technica notes that those 10Gbps speeds are an on-request Xfinity Gigabit Pro service that requires a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connection and cannot be achieved over standard plans that use Comcast’s regular cables.

With phrasing like this in Comcast’s FAQ for Xfinity 10G, it’s not hard to see how consumers could be misled. Image: Comcast

The NARB’s ruling follows similar recommendations made last October by the National Advertising Division (NAD), the ad industry’s self-regulatory body, which urged Comcast to “discontinue its ‘10G’ claims” or clarify them “in a manner that is not false or misleading.” Comcast has now agreed to stop using the term “Xfinity 10G network” to describe its entire network but maintains that it “strongly disagrees with the NARB’s analysis and approach.” The company does, however, retain the right to use the term “10G,” in general, on the condition it’s being used accurately.

Terminology around 5G network speeds has caused issues in the past. AT&T was criticized by the NARB for misleading customers with a fake 5G network back in May 2020, despite its “5G Evolution” network being much slower than actual 5G. A few months later, the NAD also told Verizon to stop advertising deceiving claims about the speed and coverage of its 5G network. Now that the cable industry is eager to keep promoting 10G, consumers will need to be more aware of what these terms actually mean to avoid being duped into buying something misleading.