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UK News: How fast is 'high-speed' broadband?

Daniel Fleshbourne Administrator Neowin @dfleshbourne · May 30, 2003 06:00 EDT with 1 comment

The debate over how to define high-speed internet services continues to cause confusion across the industry. NTL, currently advertising a 150Kbps service as 'high speed', is challenging the ruling of the Adverstising Standards Authority (ASA) on how broadband should be defined.

In April the cable company agreed to remove the term 'high speed' from advertising for a 128Kbps internet service, after the ASA ruled that the term was misleading to consumers. "We are using the term 'high speed' because everyone says we can," an NTL spokesman told vnunet.com.

"The Department of Trade and Industry, even Oftel, has no problem with the term for 128kpbs and faster." In the April ruling the ASA noted that, while Oftel defined broadband as "higher bandwidth, always-on services, offering data rates of 128Kbps and above", most consumers would understand broadband to mean a service of upwards of 512Kbps.

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