A year-long study by the Federal Communications Commission has concluded that most ISPs are delivering 90 percent of their advertised upload speed and just 80 percent of promised download speed. Given that typical home users are not particularly interested in uploading, what is disturbing is that only Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Comcast appear to be delivering on the promised downstream experience.

Part of the problem may be related to the delivery of broadband services over ADSL technology, which relies on the use of ordinary copper cables between a home and the local telephone exchange. The maximum speed attainable via ADSL is strictly related to the actual distances involved and the general state of the cables in a particular region.

The overstating of broadband speed is not just a U.S. problem--this FCC study mirrors a biannual report from the United Kingdom's independent telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, which concluded that a substantial number of customers are not receiving advertised speeds.

As reported by BBC News, Ofcom says that "more than a third of customers on services advertised as 'up to' 24Mbps actually received sppeds of 4Mbps or less."

Interestingly, the FCC research also showed how little consumers pay attention to speed levels. For example, 80 percent of those surveyed say they did not know the speed of their broadband service, while another 40 percent identified the level of their service incorrectly.

Which broadband service do you subscribe to? Do you periodically run checks to ensure that you are indeed getting your money's worth?

For more:
- check out this article at MSNBC
- check out this article at Hot Hardware
- check out this article at BBC News

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