Archive for the ‘Comcast’ Category
Says Comcast’s equipment didn’t distinguish between a network that needed management and one that didn’t
Testifying before Congress, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin presented a damning contrast (PDF) to Comcast’s claims that it blocked traffic only when needed.
“Contrary to some claims, it does not appear that [Comcast’s BitTorrent technique] was used only to occasionally delay traffic at particular nodes suffering from network congestion at that time,” said Martin. Basing his statements on testimony received, he added that Comcast’s blocking equipment is “typically deployed over a wider geographic or system area and would therefore have impacted numerous [regions] within a system simultaneously.”
Martin further accuses Comcast of not using “content agnostic” management equipment, a point that violates FCC policy and inadvertently conceded by Comcast, who recently announced a switch to “content agnostic” network management techniques.
Comcast says it expects to have its network switched over by either the end of this year or early 2009 – a timetable that many, including the FCC, have found unsatisfactory. Comcast claims that it can’t implement a change instantly as such a tactic would overwhelm its network.
Regardless of Comcast’s stated intentions – and prior praise for the change, taken entirely on Comcast’s own initiative – Martin expressed doubts on Comcast’s commitment: “Indeed, the question is not when they will begin using a new approach but if and when they are committing to stop using the old one,” he said.
However, the seemingly adversarial relationship between ISPs and the FCC enjoys at least one common ground: Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, urged Congress not to regulate (PDF) ISPs’ management of their networks – a point that Martin agrees with.
- In: 2010 | 50 Mbps | Broadband | Comcast | Internet | Roll Out | Speeds | united states | Verizon
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Internet
The Twin Cities are the lucky guinea pigs for Comcast’s new high-speed internet
Verizon’s FiOS fiber broadband connection is currently the only option for United States Internet surfers to wander about the world wide web while downloading content at up to 50 Mbps and uploading data at up to 20 Mbps. However, Verizon’s FiOS service is limited to a few areas at this time, even though roll-out is being performed slowly but surely.
Recently, Comcast also announced plans to increase the maximum bandwidth of its broadband service to 50 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload bandwidth to compete with Verizon.
Currently, Comcast is running its broadband service aalong the DOCSIS 2.0 protocol, or the second generation of the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications. This protocol tops out with a maximum downstream bandwidth of 42.88 Mbps while the maximum upstream bandwidth tops out at 30.72 Mbps.
For Comcast to increase its bandwidth, it will have to begin using DOCSIS 3.0 compliant hardware. The initial DOCSIS 3.0 specs will utilize four channels over cable; which allows the compatible hardware to serve twice the amount of data per second than DOCSIS 2.0’s dual channel design.
Through the 4-channel design, DOCSIS 3.0 compliant hardware will allow a maximum of 170 Mbps and 123 Mbps downstream and upstream bandwidth respectively. To achieve this higher bandwidth, Comcast must upgrade its back-end infrastructure to to hardware complaint with DOCSIS 3.0 and must also provide upgrades to customers’ leased modems or offer new hardware that is capable of supporting DOCSIS 3.0.
The high-bandwidth options from Comcast are in trial in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota but Comcast states it will begin mass rollout once the design has been finalized and ready for use over its nationwide infrastructure, which Comcast’s president of marketing and product development states may be by 2010.
Meanwhile, Verizon has brought its fiber-based broadband connection to a number of markets in the U.S. If Comcast goes through with these speed increases, we may hopefully see some long-awaited price wars in the broadband industry.
Pricing for the 50/20 Mbps download/upload package is stated around $150 and is only planned for the residential market. Business owners may have the option for a higher-bandwidth package in the future, however, no pricing information has been made available at this time.
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