Speed merchants

Which brings us nicely to broadband speed. The question remains: what other service would, or legally could, be sold like this?
‘I have the unlimited 2Mbit/s connection with Tiscali,’ says Gareth Lynch. After a line test he was quoted 1Mbit/s, and actually gets 800kbit/s. ‘And Tiscali still charges me for 2Mbit/s of bandwidth,’ he says.
‘My “up to 8Mbit/s” PlusNet service runs at 45kbit/s,’ says Ian Macdonald.
A few weeks ago PlusNet sent him a text message, asking him to leave his faulty line on for testing, and requesting that he should reply to the message – using the web.
Meanwhile, several of you think of artful ways to explain why broadband is reliably rubbish.
‘Is Alan Cooper’s broadband supplier like the water utilities, losing bits through leaky pipes. If so, what is Ofcom doing about setting targets to reduce leakage rates?’ asks Robin Amphlett at Parker Hannifin.