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Get Smart with NTCA in 2008: Earn While You Learn

The Marketplace

Demystifying Peer-to-Peer Networks

An IPTV Solution Designed for Your Telco

FRS Produces Mailer on DTV Transition

NTCA.org | NTCA Events | NTCA Publications

Volume 11, Number 30, August 4, 2008

Editor’s Note: The New Edge will be on hiatus next week. Publication will resume with the August 18 issue.

FCC Condemns Comcast's Network Management Practices

Court OKs Network DVRs

Cablevision Plans Regional Wi-Fi Network

Vonage Launches Pro Service

Landline Providers Offer Tech Support

FCC Condemns Comcast's Network Management Practices

As expected, the FCC officially ruled last Friday that Comcast Corp.'s handling of peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic, and specifically the BitTorrent file sharing application, violated the commission's broadband industry principles.

In a three-page news release the commission put the smack down on Comcast, stating that the cable company unduly interfered with Internet users' right to access lawful Internet content, and to use the applications of their choice. The commission concluded that Comcast's network management practices discriminate among applications rather than treating all equally and are inconsistent with the concept of an open and accessible Internet.

"Comcast monitors its customers' connections using deep packet inspection and then determines how it will route some connections based not on their destinations but on their contents," the commission noted. "In essence, Comcast opens its customers’ mail because it wants to deliver mail not based on the address on the envelope but on the type of letter contained therein."

Also of importance, the FCC noted that Comcast did not employ these practices for "reasonable network management," as the cable provider had claimed. Rather the company targets P2P applications regardless of the bandwidth that is being consumed.

According to the commission, Comcast's policies affect customers who are using little bandwidth simply because they are using a disfavored application; they are not employed only during times of the day when congestion is prevalent; the company's equipment does not target only those neighborhoods suffering from congestion; and a customer may use an extraordinary amount of bandwidth during periods of network congestion and will be totally unaffected so long as he does not utilize an application disfavored by Comcast.

Comcast failed to disclose its practices to its customers. In fact, by using false packet re-setting, the commission maintained that customers had no way of knowing when Comcast was interfering with their connections.

The commission also noted that Comcast has an anticompetitive motive to interfere with customers' use of P2P applications as they directly compete with the cable provider's own video products.

The FCC ruled that within 30 days of release of the forthcoming order, Comcast must: disclose the details of its discriminatory network management practices to the commission; submit a compliance plan describing how it intends to stop these discriminatory management practices by the end of the year; and disclose to customers and the commission its new network management practices.

The official order has yet to be released. As a result, it's not clear what role deep-packet inspection is allowed, and what forms of network management will be considered reasonable. NTCA will keep you posted on this developing story once the commission releases more information.

But in the meantime, what's a rural ISP to do? Well, as NTCA suggests in its ePaper, Demystifying Peer-to-Peer Traffic, a rural network provider is wise to create, publicize and then adhere to a network management policy, and refrain from discriminating against any specific type of traffic or application.

View the FCC's news release.

Court OKs Network DVRs

A federal appeals court ruled today that Cablevision Systems Corp. can roll out its network-based digital video recorder; confirming that the video recording technology does not violate copyright law.

Cablevision announced its plans for network DVR back in 2006, and in May of that same year several major studios and networks sued the company, claiming that Cablevision had not negotiated programming deals for the network-DVR service. The plaintiffs included 20th Century Fox Film Corp., Universal City Studios, Paramount Pictures, Disney Enterprises, CBS Broadcasting, ABC Inc. and NBC Studios.

The studios and networks asserted that Cablevision's network DVR service was masquerading as a DVR service, but was in actuality a video-on-demand programming service.

Cablevision maintained that a network DVR operates no differently than a DVR in a customer's home, and therefore it wasn't required to cut programming deals for the service.

This landmark ruling paves the way for telcos to roll out network DVRs and subscription services. Network DVRs can run on inexpensive digital set-tops.

"This is a tremendous victory for consumers, which will allow us to make DVRs available to many more people, faster and less expensively than would otherwise be possible," said Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge. "We appreciate the Court's perspective that, from the standpoint of existing copyright law, remote-storage DVRs are the same as the traditional DVRs that are in use today."

Cablevision Plans Regional Wi-Fi Network

Cable operator Cablevision announced last week that it will spend more than $300 million over the next two years to build a Wi-Fi network across its entire operating region, including New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. The company plans to offer the wireless service to all of its broadband Internet subscribers for free.

During the company's regularly scheduled earnings call, Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge revealed that the company spent $20 million between May and the end of June to being building the wireless network, which it will unveil soon. The network is initially intended for Internet access but the cable operator plans to eventually offer other services, including voice and video.

Rutledge told Newsday, "I do think if other companies do what we're doing [in Wi-Fi], that you could envision a world where you wouldn't need cellular service."

According to the company, Cablevision operates the nation's single largest cable cluster, passing more than 4.5 million households and 600,000 businesses in the New York metropolitan area. The company offers digital television, voice and high-speed Internet services, entertainment venues, professional sports teams, and national and regional programming networks including AMC, IFC and WE TV. Cablevision also is the new owner of NewsDay Media Group.

Visit Cablevision's Web site.

Vonage Launches Pro Service

Last week VoIP provider Vonage launched Vonage Pro, a bundle of five components designed for the "on the go" VoIP user.

The package includes Vonage Companion, a SoftPhone client that allows the residential or home office user to access his home number from any Internet-connected PC. With Vonage Companion incoming calls simultaneously ring both the customer's home phone and his Companion, and the customer can make outgoing calls on both devices simultaneously, essentially providing a second phone line.

Vonage Companion also offers selective call block, conference calling, personalized ringtones and call recording. Other parts of the Vonage Pro bundle include unlimited residential voice service, 25 visual voice mail messages per month, along with 25 411 directory assistance calls per month and integration of Vonage Contact Center. Visual voicemail automatically transcribes voicemails to email or SMS text while contact center provides the ability to sync all contacts from different address books along with voice-activated dialing and speed dial.

Vonage Pro, which comes bundled with Vonage's Residential Premium Unlimited Plan, is available to new customers for $34.99 per month (plus taxes and fees). Existing customers can add Vonage Pro for an additional $10 per month. Vonage is throwing in the first month for free on both offers.

Learn more about Vonage Pro.

Landline Providers Offer Tech Support

The Wall Street Journal highlighted the benefits of telecom tech support in an article last week.

According to the news outlet, landline phone companies across the country are delving into the tech-support business, viewing the service as a way to retain customers while developing a new revenue stream. Technicians, after all, often are already in the house installing routers and other devices, making tech support a natural add-on.

The WSJ specifically discussed the services provided by AT&T, Embarq, Qwest, Verizon and Windstream. Also of note, Frontier Communications Corp., whose name recently changed from Citizens Communications Co., is taking the unusual step of selling its help-desk services outside its coverage area and even to competitors' customers.

Read the WSJ article.