Comcast caught giving its own VoIP service network priority, downgrading others
By not playing fair, Comcast makes it hard for other VoIP companies to compete with it.
Are you one of the growing number of people who have decided to replace your home's land phone line connection with a VoIP-based solution? While we usually think of companies like Vonage when the word VoIP comes up, plenty of cable companies are also getting into the game. Digital connections let them finally compete with local phone companies without having to run any new cables. Unfortunately, with all that control over network transmissions, it's apparently too tempting not to fiddle with the data of other VoIP companies, as Comcast was recently caught doing.
The FCC got involved several months back when Comcast wanted to downgrade the speed of the BitTorrent clients its subscribers were using to eat up the available bandwidth. While Comcast defended itself by claiming it was just tyring to maintain acceptable levels of service for as many users as possible, not letting a few deprive the rest of high-speed access, the FCC ordered it to stop playing favorites with protocols and not treat BitTorrent users differently. So, in response, Comcast decided to just limit connections based on bandwidth use, not caring what program was responsible for it.
The problem now is that while Vonage and all the other VoIP programs can have their bandwidth limited by Comcast's throttling policies, Comcast's own VoIP service is treated differently and always routed through its network at full speed. This effectively makes it impossible for the other companies to compete, as they'll always face the risk of degraded and dropped calls while Comcast can sell its voice service to its subscribers as the one reliable solution.
The FCC's now demanding that Comcast explain its actions and offer a rationale for what looks to us like a clear-cut case of anti-competitive behavior. We can't wait to hear what it comes up with.
This story around the web:
- Trusted sources:
Comcast accused of unfair VoIP practices [Electronista]
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FCC Doesn't Like Comcast's New Treatment of… [DSLreports]
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FCC Questions Comcast's VOIP Policy [eWeek - RSS Feeds]
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FCC Questions Possible Comcast VOIP… [Tech-Ex]
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Comments (1)
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Ref (12:57 AM on Sat May 30, 2009)
Comcast is trying to sell half of what Vonage is offering for twice the price. When they can't compete using this current strategy -duh! they decide to throttle down the competitior's bandwidth. It is not as much the bandwidth-because bandwidth is the least of the concerns- but they route the competitor's voice packets over as many a hop and with greater latency; at the same time routing their own VOIP packets through the shortest hop(s) with least latency and jitter with end to end QoS.
That being the case, before you know you get a call from a used-car salesman-like (no pun intended) script reader trying to sell you Comcast Digital Voice claiming that their service is not carried over the internet but the competitors' are, therefore subject to quality degradations.
Hey Comcast Wise-men:
-Keep using the dirtiest tactics
-You will not only be able to sell half the product you offer for twice the price but you'll lose good-ole Comcast HSI customers as well. (rumor has it that Comcast have been losing 1 mil customer a month- I wonder why)
-You seem to have forgotten that there are several other broadband alternatives out there over which VOIP will run. Can you say aDSL; AT&T-U-verse? Get it?
And my two cents: Either offer better service and features than what Vonage offers for at least the same price and compete like a man or just get out of VOIP business. Bullying, intimidation only make you look foolish.