The FCC says that cable company Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is slowing service to some of its customers, especially those who use a great deal of bandwidth on video downloads and peer-to-peer software applications. Comcast says it is simply managing its network so that it does not get overloaded and hurt service to all customers.
The debate came to a head yesterday. According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin warned cable giant Comcast that the government is `ready, willing and able' to stop companies from improperly hobbling Internet traffic."
The FCC position is a little out of touch with reality. Telecom companies and cable firms do not have an unlimited amount of bandwidth to offer each and every home. At some point, the pipes do become overloaded. The cynical view is that these large companies want to charge heavy users more money for taking up more bandwidth. What is probably more accurate is that, unless there is some governor of internet use, the system will slow for everyone.
A cup can only hold so much water.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-26-2008 @ 10:43AM
sxt173 said...
The warning was intended more for throttling bittorrent traffic rather than 'high usage'. This type of traffic has more of a political and legal ramification nowadays, because providers are selectively targeting just that traffic vs someone who is simply streaming videos on YouTube.
2-26-2008 @ 11:02AM
jason said...
The problem is that you are paying for a certain advertised bandwidth, and not getting what you pay for. The commercials are constantly touting the "incredible speeds", especially in comparison to the competition. If there is a strong chance that I will not get the advertised speeds, I don't want to pay the premium.
2-29-2008 @ 11:43AM
nicco2008 said...
I think all government agencies are at best stupid. That goes from the SEC, FCC, FTC, OTS, FEDS and the state public utilities. Why anyone need to ask is becuase they don't have any brains. Who does not know that you get what you pay for....Broadband is no different than going to a an ALL U CAN EAT BUFFET: but you cannot be a scum and grab all the roast beef and leave other diners holding empty plate. Any one hear been to a buffet, ever get disgusted with a HOG infront of you just wiped out everything in one trip. I bet the FCC COMMISSIONER IS ONE OF THOSE HOGS. For the first time I MUST AGREE WITH COMCAST THEY NEED TO MANAGE THEIR NETWORK AND MAKE IT ACCESSABLE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS NOT TO FEW WHO TEND TO HOG THE BANDWIDTH .
IF THIS IS HARD FOR THE FCC TO UNDERSTAND I RECOMMEND FIRING THEM AND GO GET SHEEPHERDERS FROM AFGANISTAN OR WASIRSTAN.
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT WHY AREN'T THEY TELLING THE OIL BARONS CROOKS THEY ARE CHARGING TOO MUCH $$$$$FOR THEIR PRODUCT CLAIMING WE ARE USING TOO MUCH. IS IT THIS THE RULES OF THE GAME YOU USE TOO MUCH YOU MUST PAY TOO MUCH??????
FIRE THE STUPID FCC IDIOTS. HAIL COMCAST...DOWN WITH THE FCC.
2-29-2008 @ 12:02PM
nicco2008 said...
IT IS IRRELEVANT WHAT TECHNICAL TERMS YOU USE TO REFER TO THE VOLUME OF DATA THAT IS BEING UPLOADED OR DOWNLOADED IT COMES DOWN TO THE SAME THING. WHY IS IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SOME BOAR WHO LEARNED A COUPLE OF TERMS INSIST ON USING IT TO SHOW THAT THEY ARE SOPHISTICATED AND COMPLEX. THAT IS WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE STUPID FEDS (BERNANKE AND HIS PREDECESSOR GREENSPAN) WHEN THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT THE ECONOMY AND INFLATION. TO HIDE THEY INCOMPETENCE THEY USED THOSE FANCY WORDS TO AVOID CAMOUFLAGE THEIR FAILED POLICIES AND THOSE IN CONGRESS ARE SO DUMB THEY PRETND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT.
GEEEEEEEEEZ YOU'RE DUMB.