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Comcast Releases Statement on Network Management Practices

October 1, 2008

By Jennifer Hull

Comcast has provided additional information to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning how it manages congestion on its network. Of special interest is how the cable company intends to deal with congestion in the near future and what impact it will have on its customers

Comcast Statement on Upcoming Changes to Network Management Techniques

The following excerpts are from a Comcast company statement available in its entirety at www.comcast.net/terms/network/:

Like any other Internet service provider, we manage our network for many reasons including growing, upgrading and optimizing the network; removing spam, viruses and malicious content; and managing network traffic congestion when it occurs. While congestion is not the normal state of any network, when it happens, just like being stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, it can be frustrating. So, Comcast actively manages congestion to minimize the impact of temporary broadband traffic jams.

As announced in March 2008, Comcast is transitioning to a new congestion management technique by the end of the year. While our new technique doesn't share anything in common with our old one, they do share one important aspect - very few customers will ever be impacted. Our real world consumer trials have shown that on average less than 1% of our customers will experience anything different. In fact, the new technique will actually help ensure that all customers get their fair share of bandwidth...During these trials, Comcast did not receive a single customer complaint that could be traced to this new congestion management practice...

Comcast Congestion Management Changes Should Impact Few Customers

Comcast's High-Speed Internet network is a shared network, which means that our customers share upstream and downstream bandwidth with their neighbors. Although the available bandwidth is substantial, so, too, is the demand. Thus, when a relatively small number of customers in a neighborhood place disproportionate demands on network bandwidth, they can heavily contribute to congestion that degrades their neighbors' Internet experience. The goal of Comcast's new congestion management practices will be to enable all users of network resources to access a fair share of that bandwidth, in the interest of ensuring a high-quality online experience for all of Comcast's broadband customers.

Comcast to Manage to Temporarily Manage Customers Internet Use

The new network management practice works as follows: If a certain area of the network nears a state of congestion, the technique will ensure that all customers have a fair share of access to the network. It will identify which customer accounts are using the greatest amounts of bandwidth and their Internet traffic will be temporarily managed until the period of congestion passes. Customers will still be able to do anything they want to online, and many activities will be unaffected, but managed customers could experience things like: longer times to download or upload files, surfing the Web may seem somewhat slower, or playing games online may seem somewhat sluggish.


The new technique does not manage congestion based on the online activities, protocols or applications a customer uses, rather it only focuses on the heaviest users in real time, so the periods of congestion could be very fleeting and sporadic. It is important to note that the effect of this technique is temporary and it has nothing to do with aggregate monthly data usage. Rather, it is dynamic and based on prevailing network conditions as well as very recent data usage.