Comcast Completes Net Management Trials, Updates AUP

In the wake of a traffic throttling investigation that resulted in orders from the FCC to change its bandwidth management practice, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) has begun updating customers on its progress toward the agency’s demands.

In a service notice, Comcast said that as part of its ongoing efforts to continuously improve the quality of it service, “We are switching to a new network congestion management technique by the end of the year.”

Comcast says the technique “is focused on managing network congestion only when and where it may occur. It will also replace the current technique and will help ensure that all of our customers receive their fair share of network resources.”

Cablecos have claimed that a relatively small number of power users are eating up a disproportionately large amount of their local network bandwidth. Comcast got caught throttling bandwidth demanding P2P traffic.

The FCC ordered Comcast to stop and swap in a new bandwidth management approach by yearend. Comcast then updated its Internet acceptable user policy, which took effect Oct. 1, to impose a 250 gigabyte monthly usage ceiling. Exceeding it twice in a series of months would result in Comcast cutting off service to the violator for a year.

That “punishment” wording seems to be missing in the updated policy, which reads: Comcast prefers to inform customers of inappropriate activities and give them a reasonable period of time in which to take corrective action. Comcast also prefers to have customers directly resolve any disputes or disagreements they may have with others, whether customers or not, without Comcast's intervention.”

However, Comcast adds, ”If the service is used in a way that Comcast or its suppliers, in their sole discretion, believe violates this Policy, Comcast or its suppliers may take any responsive actions they deem appropriate under the circumstances with or without notice. These actions include, but are not limited to, temporary or permanent removal of content, cancellation of newsgroup posts, filtering of Internet transmissions, and the immediate suspension or termination of all or any portion of the service.” The cable giant appears to be leaving its options open.

“These actions are not Comcast's exclusive remedies and Comcast may take any other legal or technical actions it deems appropriate with or without notice.”

Comcast said the change in network approach means “probably nothing” to its customers. “We ran five market trials of this technique over the summer and found that less than 1 percent of customers were affected.” The cableco didn’t specifically say if the affected parties were the bandwidth hogs or others.

“So,” Comcast, reasoned, “the vast majority of customers will not notice any change to their Internet experience as a result of this new technique.”

However, the cableco continued, “During the times of busiest network use (which could occur at any hour, depending on your neighborhood), those very few extraordinarily heavy users – who are doing things like conducting multiple and continuous large file transfers – may experience slightly longer response times for some online activities until the period of network congestion ends.”

Comcast says it has once again amended its acceptable use policy “as we transition to this new technique,” and posted it on its Comcast.net Web site.

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