According to a report from Bloomberg (News - Alert) today, America’s largest cable services provider, Comcast Corporation, has revealed a new plan to regulate its Web traffic.

 

Motivated by regulatory demands, Comcast (News - Alert) will slow down Internet service to its heaviest users during periods of congestion.

 

In an interview yesterday, Mitch Bowling, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of online services, explained that while the top Internet speeds for targeted customers will be reduced for 10-20 minutes, service to other users will continue flowing.

 

Discovered on August 1st by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Comcast was illicitly blocking peer-to-peer programs used to share videos and other files, such as BitTorrent. In an order posted on its Web site today, the FCC (News - Alert) gave Comcast 30 days to provide details of its “unreasonable network management practices'” and show how they would be changed by year-end.

 

“We're going to really have to see all the detail and have all the information,'' Marvin Ammori, general counsel for the non-profit group Free Press, said in an interview. Free Press, which promotes universal access to communications, and another organization, Public Knowledge (News - Alert), filed the complaint that resulted in the FCC censure.

 

Free Press and Public Knowledge, both based in Washington, told the FCC in a November 1st complaint that Comcast “is secretly degrading innovative protocols used for transporting and sharing large files, like high-quality television programming and movies.''

 

In response, the FCC acted “to protect consumers' access to the Internet,'' FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in an August 1st interview.

 

According to Bowling, instead of focusing on specific applications that hog Web traffic, Comcast’s new system will determine in real-time whether congestion is caused by a heavy user.

 

“If in fact a person is generating enough packets that they're the ones creating that situation, we will manage that consumer for the overall good of all of our consumers,'' Bowling added.

 

Bowling claimed that Comcast has decided to use the new system, which it calls “fair share,'' and will modify it further before introducing it.

 

Another Internet traffic management strategy the company is toying with is whether to charge heavy Internet subscribers more, a step already taken by other cable companies. Time Warner (News - Alert) Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable company, has been testing metered pricing in Beaumont, Texas.

 

In trials, Comcast has found the fair share system to be effective if the slowing lasts for 10-20 minutes. The user's Internet speed would then return to normal.

 

“If they continue that, we would have to manage them again,'' Bowling said.

 

So how slow is slow for Comcast? According to Bowling, an affected subscriber would have Internet speeds equivalent to “a really good DSL experience.”