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Internet service providers studied hard to get high marks in modem speeds and connection rates on the latest report card released by Inverse Network Technology Inc.

The industry average modem connection speed improved 34 percent, reaching 3.11 kilobytes per second in May, up from January 1998 results of 2.05 KB per second. The company said these are the fastest speeds recorded since it started measuring Web performance in January 1998.

The study also found that call failure rates declined during the evening (6 p.m. to midnight) and business day (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) to 7.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. Call failure rates measure the likelihood of not connecting to the Internet on the first try.

"That fact that Web performance has improved so dramatically indicates that ISPs are deploying new capacity in the networks at a rate that exceeds demand," said Michael Watters, Inverse president and chief executive officer.

"For end users, this translates to an improved experience using the Internet."

Inverse graded ISPs on these two categories, giving the best performers grades of A and A+. Those who made the Inverse "honor roll" include: AT&T WorldNet, Cable & Wireless Internet, Concentric Network Corp., IBM Global Network, MindSpring Enterprises Inc., Prodigy Internet, Splitrock Services, Bell Atlantic.net, Bell Atlantic-North, Bell South.net and Pacific Bell Internet Services, Southwestern Bell Internet Services and U S West.