Comcast Manages P2P Traffic to Optimize Speed for All Its Broadband Subscribers
27 October 2007The AP has confirmed through nationwide tests that Comcast knowingly and actively interferes with its users’ file sharing. An unwritten rule called Net Neutrality, which most thought existed, is that broadband service providers (BSPs) would treat all Internet traffic the same. Some time back but not recently, BSPs had talked about giving preferential treatment to online services and subscribers that paid a premium rate. Comcast, the US’ second largest BSP after AT&T, and other BSPs are caught in a conflict that’s caused by wanting every subscriber to get the maximum speeds, something that file sharing with its bandwidth hogging can prevent.
Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said that Comcast uses sophisticated methods to keep its Net connections operating smoothly for its subscribers. The AP tests showed that Comcast subscribers could download BitTorrent files without hindrance but that Comcast blocks or delays uploads of complete files.
In a subsequent statement that Comcast issued, the company said, “Comcast does not block access to any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services like BitTorrent. We have a responsibility to provide all of our customers with a good Internet experience and we use the latest technologies to manage our network so that they can continue to enjoy these applications.”
An unnamed Comcast executive told the New York Times that Comcast uses data management technologies “to conserve bandwidth and allow customers to experience the Internet without delays.” As part of that, he said, Comcast occasionally delays some peer-to-peer file transfers that would reduce Internet speeds for other subscribers. He insisted the company was not stopping file transfers, only postponing them and only then in some cases. Because P2P software keeps trying to make the transfer, in many cases, he said, the user might not even notice what Comcast is doing. He also told the Times that although P2P users only account for a minority of its subscribers, they use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth.
Undoubtedly Comcast and other BSPs realize that it was file sharing that was the initial factor in getting consumers to sign up for broadband.
Who Will Be the Net’s Traffic Cop?
As the Net is increasingly used for entertainment, downloads and uploads of video files are going to suck up more and more of the Net’s bandwidth. Who has first dibs on bandwidth? Why should one user be slowed down when trying to access a Web site because another person is downloading large video files?
BSPs already have pricing plans for subscribers that charge more for higher speeds and that has been accepted as fair and equitable. Should BSPs be able to charges big bucks to online services, say Apple or Google’s YouTube, and give their videos preferential delivery?
How is the BSP to know which content to block or delay? The same technologies can be used for delivering both legal and illegal content such as in the case of the BBC, which uses P2P technology, or BitTorrent, which is used for both legal and illegal content downloads.
The coming impact of HD videos on the Net’s speed also has to be considered. Legal downloading and streaming of hundreds of thousands of movies in HD will slow the Net for everyone in its current infrastructure. BSPs are developing technologies and deploying new networks that they promise will help increase bandwidth. They may, however, be embarked on an endless quest. No one, it’s said, has ever complained about having too much bandwidth.
BSPs don’t want the bad publicity, “hate hacks” and conspiracy theories that come from word leaking out that they’re acting like traffic cops, deciding which traffic should go first. Yet they have a contractual obligation with their paying subscribers to provide optimal speeds.
The current FCC has demurred on the issue of Net Neutrality, saying that the free market will sort things out.
It is certain that the matter is not going to go away and that it’s not limited to illegal file sharing.
No comments yet