Charter Agrees To “fiber” Ad Changes Before Nad Insists

Charter agrees to “fiber” ad changes before NAD insists

Charter Communications has agreed to modify the “fiber-powered” claims in website and video advertising in response to a BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD) Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by AT&T.

Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process for single-issue advertising cases. At issue was whether Charter, which does business as Spectrum, conveyed the message that the term “fiber-powered” used in its advertising conveyed the message that it was providing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure.

The press release says that the video and webpage ads have a written disclosure saying that “Spectrum Internet is powered by fiber and delivered to the home via HFC.” HFC, an abbreviation for “hybrid fiber-coax,” is not FTTH.

The press release says that Charter’s Spectrum agreed to modify its advertising. It said that Charter would permanently stop referencing HFC and “clearly and conspicuously” disclose that its “fiber-powered” services are not delivered to homes via FTTH networks.

The voluntary and permanent modification meant that NAD did not address the merits of the change. For compliance purposes the matter will be traded as if NAD had recommended the modification to Spectrum’s advertising.

Charter was a winner in a challenge in January 2025, when several its website advertising claims for Spectrum Mobile “Unlimited” and “Unlimited Plus” wireless data plans were supported by NAD. The challenge was brought by Verizon.

The express and implied claims in that case suggested the Spectrum Mobile plans featured “unlimited talk, text, and data,” which let a customer “use all the data you want.” NAD stated that this advertising communicates the idea that the plans’ subscribers could “consistently engage in typical online activities” without any regard to data consumption.

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