"Broadband? You're joking" - come back when you're at least 512Kbps

Guests, revellers and prize-winners at last week's Internet Service Providers Association Awards may have been surprised to see the broadband categories include a number of nominees whose top speed offerings are lagging some way behind the competition.

Arguments rage on over what should be included within the broad definition of 'broadband', but silicon.com readers are in little doubt - until connection speeds hit 512Kbps it just doesn't count.

Almost 90 per cent of respondents to a silicon.com survey wouldn't even start to entertain the idea of something being broadband until it was at least 512Kbps, with 54.98 per cent stating that entry-level requirement was enough to warrant the definition.

However, 18.67 per cent said 'broadband' should refer to at least 1Mbps, while a demanding 8.3 per cent say 2Mbps should now be considered the minimum. A surprising 4.98 per cent even set the bar at a staggering 10Mbps - a level that few, if any, mainstream ISPs look set to reach any time soon.

This is bad news for ISP Tiscali in particular, as it has heavily marketed its 150Kbps offering as 'broadband'.

While it may legally be allowed to call this product broadband it appears to carry little sway with consumers who remain unconvinced that it is little more than a 'half-way house'.

NTL is another company which has been forced to defend a slower than average broadband offering. Its offering, like that of Tiscali, is in stark contrast to the 8Mbps offerings from Easynet and Bulldog.

It's perhaps understandable therefore that companies offering faster services are having to share working terminology with far slower offerings.

However, last year Alex Blowers, director of regulatory affairs at NTL, told complaining rivals that the onus is on them to 'dumb down' their own service.

"If you don't like the fact that we're taking customers away from you with our 150Kbps services, then you should start providing your own services at these speeds," he said.

The concern is that as the government tries to drive broadband take-up and encourage more Britons online, some may become disenchanted if they think they have been misled into signing up for a far slower package than their neighbours - even though both houses will technically have 'broadband'.

However, it's not an issue which troubles e-minister Stephen Timms, who last year said: "As long as it is clear what is being offered to consumers, I don't think it matters that the term broadband is being used to describe several different services."