Comments on: Mind if I "De-Prioritize" Comcast as My ISP, Then?

By: A Little Cheese With That Whine, Comcast? | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:51:45 +0000

[...] cable company will abide by the FCC’s order during the appeal. And it will forge ahead with plans to develop more net neutrality-friendly network management techniques by the end of the year. Said [...]

By: You Stand Accused of Excessive Use and Network Brutality, How Do You Plead? | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:39:21 +0000

[...] of Comcast’s broadband service speeds will face not just a periodic slowing, sorry, deprioritizing of their service, but a capping of that service as well. Broadband Reports brings word today that [...]

By: Mark Walker

Mark Walker — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:39:24 +0000

It’s amazing to me that we’ve allowed these large ISPs to get away with rampant overbooking, and that it took so long for it to hit the fan.

Probably the most asked question when the .com era started was, “… but what throughput can I expect to get on this x Mbps connection?” ISPs would rarely give an honest answer to this legitimate question.

These early customers understood that the shared media in their neighborhood could not support more than a couple of customers using the network at the media speed of their cable/DSL connection.

But actually, they aren’t overbooking if you read the fine print.

No throughput performance is guaranteed by Comcast. They could probably legally give every customer 16Kbps throughput 24/7 and be within the terms of the contract for service.

caveat emptor – http://dictionary.reference.co.....t%20emptor

By: Ed Chavez

Ed Chavez — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:41:32 +0000

Quoted:

“Then, they’d face pricing resistance because Cable is already priced comparably high to alternatives.”

Yes, and that’s because people pay for better + faster. That’s the whole point.

The one thing that makes “business class” worthwhile is synchronous mode (up/down). Comcast consumer service speeds are all DOWNSTREAM, that’s what makes it “consumer” and not for business class. People pay the PREMIUM for that DOWNSTREAM speed.

Any talk about customers looking for “business-like” service because they’re heavy DOWNSTREAM users is folly. They’re paying for that “one-way freeway” plain and simple.

If they’re not “ready” to provide that service, then please don’t advertise as such.

“The “just build out the infrastructure” populism you espouse is unfortunately constrained by the practicalities of real world corporate finance.”

Hmmm. I get that, and if thats reality, I think it’s time to open discussions about “public utility”. Or opening up all that fiber to possible competitive carriers, ala the CLEC route.

We can’t have ONE company effectively deciding on matters that effective “stunt” technological growth because of “practicalities of real world corporate finance”.

By: David Griscavage

David Griscavage — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:13:52 +0000

“But hasn’t Comcast guaranteed those users access to a set service? …” No, they don’t guarantee that bandwidth, speed, latency, etc. To get a guarantee, you would have to obtain a data connection with an Service Level Agreement, like a full or fractional T-1, at $200-$300 a month. Cable/DSL residential broadband continues to be best effort. “Really, wouldn’t Comcast be better offer (sic) investing in its network rather than punishing its heaviest users?” The answer is “Probably not”. If Comcast were to commit to a large capital program to upgrade infrastructure more than they’re doing now (to keep these heavy users happy), they’d first need the funds to support it (borrowing, use existing cash flow, issue stock). Then, they’d face pricing resistance because Cable is already priced comparably high to alternatives. If they didn’t have a significant increase in revenue as a result of that spending, Wall Street would likely punish their management and stockholders by lowering their EPS estimates and drive the stock price down. VZ has experienced similar pressure with the FIOS build out. The “just build out the infrastructure” populism you espouse is unfortunately constrained by the practicalities of real world corporate finance.