Logic Communications has responded to competitor North Rock Communications' latest Internet speed upgrade by claiming it is not materially different to its own service and that it would at least match its rival Internet Service Provider's (ISP) offering.

Yesterday, The Royal Gazette reported that Logic had moved it clients up 544 kilobits per second (kbps) from 256 kbps to 800 kbps for $69.95 per month, enabling them to enjoy a quicker internet service, but North Rock has gone a step further by upgrading its customers who receive 256 kbps by 768 kbps to one megabit per second (MBps), again for $69.95, offering a four times faster speed.

But Paul Coleman, president of marketing at Logic, said his company had historically been the innovators in upgrading internet speeds in Bermuda and that there was little difference in the 200 kbps gap in the between the two services, still allowing clients to take advantage of video usage and streaming.

"For the new speed tiers, we have always been the first to offer an upgrade," he said. "The difference between what we have and North Rock has is not material.

"We will continue to offer new upgrades first and at least match their speed very soon."

Mr. Coleman said that Logic focused on customer service and offered the complete package, including hardware, peripherals, a reliable network and IT support, as well as a team of technicians called the Detechtives.

"Logic has had a long history of taking care of our customers," he said. "We have the best customer service in the Island and we have heard that from our customers who come into our retail store and independent surveys done.

"When you add all of those things up, Logic really has a complete solution for our customers."

He said that Logic had tested the new internet speeds with their customers to get their feedback and that they had been very pleased with the service.

And Mr Coleman reckons the only thing holding back ISPs from increasing their speeds is Internet access providers waiting on applications for bigger capacity.

"It think it is a bit of a waiting game for the access providers," he said. "I think CableVision has applied for faster speeds and is waiting for Government approval and BTC is in the same position.

"It is up to access providers to what they do next with a lot of capacity available offshore — we are already starting to see the effects with that bandwidth in the market place."