'Contention Ratio' appears to be an outdated term - at least for marketing purposes. I am sure it is still relevant and the techy boys must still use the term. The struggle for broadband providers is satisfying the likes of the Advertising Standards Authority when they quote line speeds! When TalkTalk rolled at LLU in my area I signed up immediately. With few broadband customers at the time, the contention ratio must have been pretty low and I had very consistent speeds. I now find a noticeable but not quite dramatic (yet) reduction in speed at busy times - usually on a Friday evening.