Being fans of mobile broadband doesn't mean you won't feel a bit miffed to discover that that advertised 21Mbit/s connection delivers around 3 to 5Mbit/s on a good day. That's pretty fast but it's not as marketable as the heady headline speed figures some mobile telcos bandy about.

In fact, apart from in tightly controlled laboratory conditions, nobody will reach the 3.6, 7.2, 14.4, 21Mbit/s download speeds advertised in real life. You won't even get close to the theoretical maximum, so I'm pleased to see that the Aussie regulators are reminding telcos that it's not fair to promise customers something they'll never be able to receive.

Vodafone and Telecom seem to have taken that on board, at least on their websites. Vodafone doesn't give any speed promises at all for its 3G network, whereas Telecom reckons 3Mbit/s down and 1Mbit/s are the average speeds for XT.

Truth in advertising is good, even if it gives the telcos marketing headaches. At the same time though, there seems little point in spending money on doubling or even trebling the theoretical maximum performance of networks when the actual throughput creeps up at a far less impressive rate.