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Comcast to Test Ways to Control High Internet Users

June 16, 2008

Comcast announced it will implement a trial broadband management system in an attempt to curb internet customers who use an excessive amount of the company’s cable capacity. The 30-day test begins this week in Chambersburg, PA and Warrenton, VA and later in Colorado Springs, CO.

Network capacity management is becoming an issue for broadband providers because a low percentage of Internet subscribers use a high percentage of line capacities; this affects the connection speeds and service of other Comcast customers.

Comcast Implements Broadband Network Management System

Comcast will migrate by year-end 2008 to a capacity management technique that is protocol agnostic.  Tony Werner, Comcast chief technology officer said, “This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today’s emerging Internet trends.  We will refine, adjust, and publish the technique based upon feedback and initial trial results.”

Other broadband providers are testing systems intended to control high Internet usage including capping the number of gigabytes allowed a customer each month and then charging a fee for every gigabyte used in excess of the allowance.
While Comcast has considered offering its customers a 250 gigabyte monthly allowance with fees for additional usage, at this time it has no plans to change its existing system. Currently, Comcast subscribers who use the Internet in excessive amounts are issued a warning that their Internet service will be discontinued if the high level of usage continues.

Comcast to Curtail Excessive Internet Use

Generally, customers who use the Internet to access email and to surf the web will not be affected, but those who download music and movies may be. In a statement on its website, Comcast says it would take downloading 50,000 songs per month or sending out 40 million email messages to trigger a warning to curtail usage. The new policies being tested are meant to curtail heavy broadband users who upload and download more data in one month than a typical residential customer would over the course of many years.