Comcast to Slow Some Web Traffic for Up to 20 Minutes (Update2) By Todd Shields Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Comcast Corp. plans to slow Internet service to its heaviest users during periods of congestion, after regulators ordered the company to devise a new method for managing its Web traffic.

The top Internet speeds for targeted customers will be reduced for periods lasting 10 minutes to 20 minutes, keeping service to other users flowing, Mitch Bowling, Comcast's senior vice president and general manager of online services, said in an interview yesterday.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission found on Aug. 1 that Comcast had improperly blocked peer-to-peer programs such as BitTorrent that are used to share videos and other files. In an order posted on its Web site today, the FCC gave the Philadelphia-based company 30 days to provide details of its ``unreasonable network management practices'' and show how they would be changed by year-end.

``We're going to really have to see all the detail and have all the information,'' Marvin Ammori, general counsel for the non-profit group Free Press, said in an interview. Free Press, which promotes universal access to communications, and another organization, Public Knowledge, filed the complaint that resulted in the FCC censure.

The new system will move away from a focus on specific applications that hog Web traffic, Bowling said. Comcast will determine ``in nearly real time'' whether congestion is caused by a heavy user, he said.

``If in fact a person is generating enough packets that they're the ones creating that situation, we will manage that consumer for the overall good of all of our consumers,'' Bowling said.

Managing Traffic

Comcast, which reported 14.4 million Internet users at the end of the second quarter, fell 21 cents to $21.28 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 17 percent this year.

Free Press and Public Knowledge, both based in Washington, told the FCC in a Nov. 1 complaint that Comcast ``is secretly degrading innovative protocols used for transporting and sharing large files, like high-quality television programming and movies.''

The FCC acted ``to protect consumers' access to the Internet,'' FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in an Aug. 1 interview.

Comcast has decided to use the new system, which it calls ``fair share,'' and will fine-tune it further before introducing it, Bowling said.

Pricing Decision

The company is considering whether to charge subscribers more for heavier Internet use, a step announced by some other cable companies, Bowling said. Time Warner Cable Inc., the second-largest U.S. cable company, started testing metered pricing in Beaumont, Texas.

``I think everyone's looked at something,'' Bowling said. ``We haven't made any decisions.''

In trials, Comcast has found the fair share system to be effective if the slowing lasts for ``roughly between, probably, 10 and 20 minutes,'' Bowling said. The user's Internet speed would then return to normal.

``If they continue that, we would have to manage them again,'' Bowling said.

A user being impeded would have Internet speeds equivalent to ``a really good DSL experience,'' Bowling said. DSL, or digital subscriber line, is an Internet service offered by telephone companies.

To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 20, 2008 16:29 EDT