The New York Times had a business-section front page article over the weekend about broadband speeds. The gist was that consumers are frequently confused by marketing that touts speeds “up to” a certain point. It chided the RBOCs and cable companies alike because, it claimed, users routinely don’t get those maximum speeds. Among the companies reporters Matt Richtel and Ken Belson talked to was Verizon. One particular quote from its spokesman, Eric Rabe, was classic Verizon-speak:

While Mr. Rabe defended his company’s advertising policies, he said he could not do the same for competitors, particularly in the cable industry. “We deliver the full speed or close to it more often than our competitors,” he said. But Mr. Rabe said he did not have statistics that would back up that contention.