Comcast defends traffic throttles
February 15, 2008
Comcast Corp has told US regulators it uses reasonable measures to manage traffic moving over its broadband service as some of its customers overwhelm the network by using file-sharing applications like BitTorrent. Comcast, which is the second largest US Internet service provider with more than 13 million subscribers, said the use of network management was essential to avoid congestion and impairment of some applications such as online video sites Joost and Veoh.
Comcast was speaking as the 'net neutrality' bill was introduced on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, the cable giant posted a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, rolled out another big stock buyback plan and said it will pay a quarterly dividend for the first time. Comcast made $602 million, up from the year-ago $390 million. Revenue rose 14 per cent from a year ago to $8.01 billion.