Comcast welcomes FCC inquiry into traffic management
Cable-modem service provider Comcast
said Wednesday that it would welcome a U.S.
Federal Communications Commission investigation into its broadband traffic
management practices.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, speaking at the Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, said the commission would investigate
complaints that Comcast was blocking some peer-to-peer (P-to-P) traffic. An
Associated Press investigation
published in October found that Comcast was slowing traffic connected through
the popular BitTorrent
file-sharing program.
A Comcast spokeswoman said Wednesday that the company had not yet received
information requests from the FCC. Comcast, in a statement, also defended its
practice of sometimes slowing P-to-P traffic during peak traffic times.
"We look forward to responding to any FCC inquiries regarding our broadband
network management," David Cohen, Comcast's executive vice president, said
in the statement. "We believe our practices are in accordance with the
FCC's policy statement on the Internet where the commission clearly recognized
that reasonable network management is necessary for the good of all customers."
Comcast will work with the FCC to better inform customers about broadband network
management, the statement said. "Comcast does not, has not, and will not
block any Web sites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services,"
Cohen said.
Martin also said the FCC would look into complaints that Verizon
Wireless and other wireless carriers were blocking access to text-messaging
on their networks. In September, Verizon Wireless denied Naral
Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group, access when the group asked
to allow Verizon customers to sign up for its text-messaging alerts. Verizon
reversed the decision a day later.
A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for
comments on Martin's CES speech.
In December, eight consumer and public-interest groups -- including Public
Knowledge, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers
Union -- filed a complaint with the FCC, saying mobile phone providers should
not be able to block text messages from political groups and advertisers.
Public Knowledge and Free
Press, both critical of provider traffic blocking, praised Martin's CES
statements. Public Knowledge is pleased that the FCC is "willing to stand
by their principles to protect American consumers," the group said in a
statement. "We look forward to FCC proceedings that will determine what
are legitimate uses of power by telecom companies, and which are not."
IDG News Service
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