Intellectual Property Law

Comcast: Metered Broadband Isn't the Solution

By Cynthia Brumfield

Hoping to lay helpful groundwork as potentially sympathetic parties get ready to file comments in the FCC inquiry into how broadband providers deal with P2P, top cable operator Comcast has held DC briefings on its P2P traffic management practices (which triggered the inquiry in the first place.)

During one meeting yesterday, according to sources, Comcast execs reiterated that the filtering technology it deploys doesn't block P2P applications but merely slows them down. Even then the goal is to slow down uploads and only during peak periods of network congestion.

More interesting, however, is Comcast's position on metered broadband usage. Fellow cable operator Time Warner has announced it will test consumption-based pricing for high-speed service as a way of managing networking congestion.

Comcast isn't fond of this metered usage approach because it doesn't solve the bandwidth problem that P2P applications create, company representatives reportedly said during the meeting. In other words, Comcast doesn't plan to go with a metered approach any time soon.

I contacted one Comcast executive to confirm that Comcast won't follow Time Warner's tentative lead, at least not in the near future. Here's what he said: "Most [ISPs] recognize that a metered approach doesn't solve peak-hour usage pressures. We (and I'm sure all ISPs) will watch TW's plan with interest."

Sounds like Comcast won't rule out ever offering metered broadband service, but clearly metered broadband isn't a solution that Comcast is itching to deploy.

Full post as published by IP Democracy on February 07, 2008 (boomark / email).