ASA unhappy with iPad 4G claims

Apple has previously been in hot water with its new iPad 4G model over in Australia, where the tablet’s 4G wasn’t compatible with the country’s sole super-fast mobile network.

And a similar situation has developed in the UK, as Apple has advertised its 4G iPad here, yet obviously there’s no 4G network in Britain yet (save for a few trial affairs). But more crucially, when 4G does start to roll out in the UK, the new iPad won’t be compatible anyway.

The Advertising Standards Agency has previously had this out with Apple, with the Cupertino company promising that “no further reference to the 4G capabilities of the iPad will be made on their UK website”, according to a BBC report.

However, Apple’s UK online store still refers to the device as having “ultra-fast wireless”, and on the page where the customer selects the iPad they wish to buy, 4G is still mentioned.

And some folks have complained further to the ASA regarding this. The Agency noted: “If it appears that the problem claims we asked Apple to remove are still appearing, we will investigate these new complaints.”

For its part, Apple is saying that it never promised to strip every single reference to 4G from its new iPad pages. We suspect the firm may be hearing from the ASA again soon.

4G may begin to roll out in the UK late this year, if Everything Everywhere gets its way, and receives Ofcom approval to utilise the spectrum the firm already owns ahead of the 4G auction.

The auction will pave the way for the roll out of 4G proper, although currently legal wrangling and threats are holding up the process, which isn’t good news for anyone.