Leader: Be clear on broadband speeds

AOL, ever a representative of the online mainstream, has brought to the forefront a question that has lingered over broadband ever since the word came into use.

That is: how fast is broadband exactly?

Faster than dial-up, sure, but that leaves plenty of room for interpretation. In practice, it has meant internet service as slow as 150Kbps to 6Mbps and upwards (though 512Kbps is probably the more widely recognised lower limit).

AOL has been reprimanded for advertising a 1Mbps service when it couldn't deliver that speed all the time.

The online company defended itself by saying the speed was achievable in the best of circumstances but that wasn't good enough for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

AOL now uses the phrase "up to 1Mbps" in its advertising.

Due to the vagaries of networking, it's difficult for even the best-intentioned providers to know exactly how fast a customer's internet service will be. It depends on the time of day, the specifications of a customer's PC and the distance a residence is from the provider's exchange point, among other factors.

But it's precisely because it is a confusing issue that providers need to be as explicit as possible in communicating with customers about what they can expect.

Otherwise, it's not only false advertising but also poor business practice. Isn't the first rule of keeping customers happy to deliver on promises?

Many people, especially the less technical, won't know their precise upload and download speeds at any given time. But they're still likely to get peeved if they're paying out each month but not able to do the things they want - such as watch a video feed or download a large application in a matter of minutes rather than hours.

And a peeved customer is a customer that's likely to switch providers or give up on broadband altogether - neither good outcomes for anyone in the business.