Comcast and Vonage announced a “cooling off” agreement, where the two competitors will “address the reasonable network management of Internet services.” The move by Comcast is a response to their recent bandwidth throttling strategy, which raised eyebrows at the FCC. The throttling attempts were more targeted at peer-to-peer traffic generated through sites like Bittorrent. These type of traffic shaping tactics don’t bode well for Vonage and other “bring your own broadband” VoIP providers that ride Comcast’s broadband pipes into the home.
“Although we’re competitors with Comcast, this understanding helps our two companies work together to balance the needs of network management with consumers’ ability to freely access the services, applications and content of their choice,” said Louis Mamakos, Vonage Chief Technology Officer, in a joint press release. Comcast has made similar overtures to Bittorrent. Reaching out to Vonage and Bittorrent buys Comcast some cover at the FCC as they try to figure out a way to manage Internet traffic more to their liking and their wallet. Do you think agreements like this mean anything, or do they just make great press release fodder?
