ARB rules RocketNet's fibre promotion misleading

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Omission

In a ruling issued on 19 March 2026, the ARB determined that RocketNet’s advertising for its Apollo 200 summer promotion breached Clause 4.2.1 of Section II of the Code of Advertising Practice. The Directorate found that the omission of a key condition — that the discounted offer was not available to existing customers — constituted a material omission likely to mislead consumers.

The complaint was brought by a customer who attempted to switch from a higher-tier package to the advertised Apollo 200 deal, only to be informed that the promotional pricing did not apply to existing users making package changes. The consumer argued that this limitation was not clearly disclosed in the advertising.

The consumer was perturbed that they did not qualify for the discount.

RocketNet defended its position by pointing to its terms and conditions, which explicitly exclude existing customers who upgrade or downgrade their packages from accessing promotional pricing. However, the ARB found that simply including such terms in separate conditions was insufficient where the restriction significantly alters the nature of the offer.

Reasonable consumer

The Directorate emphasised that while not all terms and conditions need to appear in advertisements, any condition that materially affects a consumer’s decision must be clearly disclosed upfront. In this case, it concluded that a reasonable consumer would not assume they were excluded from a “special” price when switching packages, particularly given that RocketNet’s offerings appear to operate on a month-to-month basis.

The ruling also noted that the inclusion of other technical exclusions in the advertisement could create the impression that no further significant limitations applied, further compounding the misleading nature of the omission.

As a result, the ARB instructed its members not to accept the advertising in its current form unless it clearly states that the promotion is not available to existing customers.