NCTA Says Marketplace Developments, Not New Regulation, Will Continue to Provide Consumers Best Broadband Internet Experience

“Managing congestion and traffic in order to maximize satisfaction for all customers is hardly detrimental to the public interest.”

2/13/2008, WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the marketplace for broadband Internet service expands and providers explore new mechanisms to enrich the Internet experience for consumers, new regulation that would restrict this experimentation will only slow innovation and harm consumers, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) said in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today.

NCTA filed its comments in the “Broadband Industry Practices” proceeding in opposition to two petitions requesting that the Commission enact new regulation that would restrict the ability of broadband service providers to manage their networks to provide a better customer experience (docket number 07-52).

With the FCC’s 2005 adoption of a Policy Statement concerning broadband service, NCTA said that the Commission has already taken the correct approach – one of vigilant restraint – to ensure that the rapidly changing marketplace for broadband services develops in a way that best meets the needs of consumers. Importantly, the Commission’s 2005 Policy Statement expressly recognized that its broadband principles were “subject to reasonable network management,” NCTA said.

NCTA said that managing congestion of available bandwidth is essential to ensuring the highest quality and diversity of broadband service and it has been critical to the growth, evolution and accessibility of that service. With new applications taking advantage of the expanded bandwidth deployed by broadband Internet service providers, such services if not properly managed clog the entire network and affect the quality of service available to all customers on the network, including those who are using very little bandwidth to retrieve web content or send and retrieve simple e-mail messages, NCTA said.

“Congestion issues are not unique to cable broadband networks – they are a constant issue for networks of every type,” the filing states. “Wireline and wireless phone networks, airlines, and roads all experience congestion at times of peak usage. And with all of these networks, simply ‘building more’ is not a complete solution. It is in the nature of networks to congest and it is the obligation of network owners to manage that congestion for the benefit of their customers.”

Peer-to-peer services are particularly “congestive” as users of these services – only a small percentage of all Internet users – not only download large files for long periods of time but also make their computers available as servers that constantly upload files for use by others, NCTA said.

“The use of peer-to-peer services by only a small fraction of Internet customers can consume a very large portion of the network’s resources and capacity and can, at times, interfere with the use and enjoyment of the Internet by other customers,” the filing states. “But absent network management, heavy usage of peer-to-peer services can make it more difficult and less efficient for the vast majority of Internet customers to access Internet applications and content. And it can degrade the overall speed of Internet access for all customers. Managing congestion and traffic in order to maximize satisfaction for all customers is hardly detrimental to the public interest and does not in any way contravene the principles of the Policy Statement.”

NCTA also said that network management based on consumption is not censorship because the techniques are agnostic as to source and content. The techniques address particular applications and protocols only to the extent to which they are sources of congestion and degradation of services across the network.

“In the absence of any evidence that particular network management techniques have a clear purpose or effect other than to prevent congestion and maximize overall customer satisfaction, methods of network management should be determined in the marketplace – not by rulemaking and regulation,” the filing states. “There is no evidence that network management techniques are in any way at odds with the purposes and principles of the Commission’s Policy Statement or that they are in any way thwarting rather than promoting the public interest in maximizing availability, usage and access to Internet services. There is, in short, no reason for the Commission to abandon a policy of vigilant restraint that is working well.”

NCTA is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks. The cable industry is the nation’s largest broadband provider of high-speed Internet access after investing more than $130 billion to build a two-way interactive network with fiber optic technology. Cable companies also provide state-of-the-art digital telephone service to millions of American consumers.

Source: National Cable & Telecommunications Association

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