Cox shuts down Net congestion tests - Telecom News Analysis

Cox Communications Inc. has shut down a trial of a new Internet traffic system it was testing in its Kansas and Arkansas systems, a decision that comes a week before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gets ready to ramp up a proceeding that could produce a new set of rules around so-called network neutrality.

Cox launched the trials in February, testing out a system developed internally that puts traffic into "time-sensitive" (e.g., Web pages, voice calls, streaming video), and "non-time-sensitive" (e.g., file uploads, peer-to-peer, and Usenet) buckets. As designed, the congestion management system temporarily delays upstream, non-time-sensitive traffic whenever network congestion is detected. Cox, which limited the test to residential high-speed Internet subs, insisted that any delays were on the order of seconds or subseconds -- not enough for customers to really notice. (See Cox: Packet Delays Won't Hurt and Cox to Test New Bandwidth Cop ...)