What is the actual download speed in kb/sec of 1.5mbps internet?

i am pretty sure that the speeds they tell you are in megabits (not megabytes) per second and download speeds are in kilobytes per second. i have supposedly have 1mbps DSL and i get about 170kb/sec, is that normal? and how fast would it be if i upgraded to 1.5mbps service (in kb/sec)? is it true that you just divide by 8 to get your speed? (A.K.A ..... 8 bits = 1 byte?)