• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 5, 2008

Under fire for interfering with its broadband customers' visits to peer-to-peer sites, Comcast this week will start testing a new protocol agnostic method of managing traffic. For the initiative, Comcast will slow down service to customers who consume the most bandwidth, regardless of what applications they're using or which sites they are attempting to visit.

"At the busiest times of the day on our network (which could occur at any time), those very few disproportionately heavy users, who are doing things like conducting numerous or continuous large file transfers, may experience slightly longer response times for some online activities, until the period of network congestion ends," Comcast said in a letter to some subscribers.

The cable company will begin the test, slated to last 30 days, in two cities--Chambersburg, Pa., and Warrenton, Va. Later this summer, the company will also conduct a test in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Comcast anticipates that only a small number of the company's 14 million broadband subscribers will be affected. Comcast subscribers consume an average of 2 gigabytes of bandwidth each per month. It's not yet clear how much consumption will trigger a slowdown.

Comcast has been on the defensive since last fall, when an investigation by The Associated Press revealed that the cable giant was throttling traffic to peer-to-peer sites. The company denied that it permanently prevented users from reaching any particular site, but acknowledged that it occasionally interfered with visits to manage traffic.

The disclosure prompted at least one lawsuit and several complaints with the Federal Communications Commission, which is still investigating the company. The FCC three years ago issued a statement endorsing the concept that network operators shouldn't discriminate against any particular lawful applications or content, but said they could take reasonable steps to manage traffic across their network.

FCC Chair Kevin Martin has indicated he disapproves of traffic management strategies that rely on discriminating against particular applications. He also has said that Internet service providers should disclose their traffic management practices.

Some net neutrality advocates say Comcast's decision to manage bandwidth based solely on volume is preferable to discriminating against specific protocols or sites. At the same time, however, advocates are still troubled because it's not clear what options are available to affected subscribers.

If people can't switch to another Internet service provider, then the heaviest media consumers might find themselves stymied in their ability to go online at all.

"What choice do you have?" asked Art Brodsky, communications director for net neutrality group Public Advocate. "That's the question that gives lie to this whole notion that just disclosing what you're doing is enough."

Comcast isn't the only company considering revamping its broadband policies to cope with a bandwidth shortage. Time Warner this week said it would start a test of metered pricing in Beaumont, Tex. For the Time Warner test, consumers will be able to choose from a range of plans, with prices starting at $29.95 a month for speeds of 768 Kpbs and a 5GB bandwidth cap. The most expensive is $54.90 for speeds of 15 MBps and a monthly cap of 40GB. Customers who exceed their limits will be charged $1 for each extra GB.