Denmark’s TDC telephone company is so confident about their network upgrades, they are ready to guarantee customers will get the broadband speeds advertised, or their money back and a commitment to fix the problem.

Most phone companies selling DSL service have always had to qualify their speed marketing claims with words like “up to” because customers further away from central switching offices or remote hubs won’t necessarily get the speeds on offer. The further away a customer lives from a telephone company facility, the slower the speeds on copper-based networks. Total network capacity can also create problems during peak usage periods, but not for TDC, which says it has a network robust enough to handle demand.

TDC’s Guaranteed Speed Tiers (US$):

• Basic: 20/2Mbps $47
• Enhanced: 30/5Mbps $49.50
• Superior: 40/10Mbps $53
• Extreme: 50/10Mbps $55

“With this initiative we want [to show] how communication to broadband customers can be further improved,” said Rene Brochner, director of TDC’s residential service division. “With the new products we now offer we guarantee that the speed is always [as advertised]. For example, the 40Mbps/10Mbps speed is always 40Mbps/10Mbps.”

Two-thirds of Denmark will be upgraded to 20/2Mbps service by the middle of this year, with another 750,000 households qualified for 50Mbps service because of TDC’s investment in fiber and pair bonding. Next year, TDC will add Vectoring technology, which will improve speeds on existing copper lines to as much as 100Mbps.

“Frontier’s online qualification tool rarely works, and is generally useless for predicting your likely speed, so I called Frontier this morning to inquire about 12Mbps service and was told my exchange does not yet qualify for the new speeds,” writes Dana B. from Jackson. “It would have been nice because I currently consider it a good day when a speed test shows I reach 3Mbps on my Frontier DSL.”

Ken, who lives near Manchester, found out he could not get the faster speed either.

“Frontier’s national customer service really was not much help as they simply processed my order,” says Ken. “Several hours after I was confirmed for the new speeds, I got a call back saying my line could not handle anything faster than around 5Mbps, which is about what I have now thanks to the hard work of a local lineman who tuned up my DSL service during an earlier service call.”

“It’s a real bummer because Frontier is charging me some very high prices for what I can manage to get, but unless and until a cable company wires my street, I do not have any other option.”

If anyone is able to get 12/2Mbps service from Frontier in Ohio, share your thoughts in our comment section.

For more information on Frontier’s Internet services, residential and business consumers may call 1-800-921-8101.