Sentence:  <WSD>Faster</WSD> than a speeding bit, the internet upended media and entertainment companies. Piracy soared, and sales of albums and films slid. Newspapers lost advertising and readers to websites. Stores selling books, CDs and DVDs went bust. Doomsayers predicted that consumers and advertisers would abandon pay-television en masse in favour of online alternatives. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Quickly, with great speed; within a short time (from 13th c.).