U.S. Internet firms defend tighter Web management

[Brian Warkoczeski]

U.S. Internet firms defend tighter Web management

Feb 26, 2009

www.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Internet service providers like AT&T Inc are 
making greater efforts to manage traffic on their networks as they seek 
ways to avoid congestion caused by bandwidth-hogging services like 
video, industry officials said on Thursday.

Network management of Internet traffic has become a flash point between 
companies and public interest groups which worry that companies will 
become the arbiter of what is important or discriminate against certain 
applications or content.

Internet providers say they must engage in reasonable network management 
due to increasing bandwidth of applications used by consumers and that 
they are not policing content.

"In the future we are going to get into applications like real time 
video that are going to require some sort of management," Bob Quinn, 
senior vice president for regulatory policy at AT&T, told a panel at an 
event held by the Free State Foundation, a Washington think tank opposed 
to heavy regulation. "Management is going to absolutely be required."

The issue came to a head last year when the Federal Communication 
Commission upheld a complaint accusing Comcast Corp of violating the 
agency's open-Internet principles by blocking file-sharing services, 
such as those that distribute video and television shows.

The FCC has guidelines to prevent Internet service providers from 
discriminating against certain network traffic, but many advocates want 
teeth behind those guidelines and some back legislation to codify them.

President Barack Obama strongly backed net neutrality during the 
campaign and as a senator. Observers are monitoring how he will change 
policy.

Comcast, which is appealing the FCC ruling in the courts, now uses a 
"fair share" approach, which compares users against their neighbors, 
without regard to particular applications, according to Joseph Waz, a 
senior VP for public policy at Comcast Corp

Cox Communications recently said it would test a new technology that 
prioritizes "time-sensitive" Internet traffic like Web pages and 
streaming videos, while delaying less time-sensitive traffic like file 
uploads when the local network is congested.

Consumer groups decried this move as heavy-handed, and called on 
regulators to review the practice.

Cox has "taken a page from our book" in that policy, Waz said.

Earlier this month, the chief executive of Frontier Communications Corp 
said tiering of prices makes sense so that customers who use less 
Internet do not wind up subsidizing those who use large amounts.

Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile must manage its network traffic as a 
wireless carrier because it is more limited in volume and bandwidth than 
companies like AT&T and Verizon, said Tom Sugrue, vice president of 
government affairs for the company.

T-Mobile may use up to 10 gigabits a month, or possibly be downgraded to 
a speed that is roughly equivalent to the first generation of Apple 
Inc's iPhone.

To avoid crashing the network, "you have to have reasonable management," 
Sugrue said.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)