Cable flying under net neutrality radar

Though they have generally escaped the vitriol directed at telcos by free speech advocates and others, cable TV operators are quietly moving toward what can best be described as less than neutral data offerings.

At last week's CableLabs Winter Conference, several vendors took the wraps off products that will give cable operators the ability to reserve bandwidth for applications ranging from voice over IP to business services. Cable Matrix, for instance, announced that it has successfully completed interoperability testing between its policy management platform and Arris' C3 Cable Modem Termination System. The resulting product gives cable operators the ability to pick and choose which IP streams are given priority, according to Matt Tooley, chief technology officer of Cable Matrix.

“One of the things they're looking to do is compete with the Google Videos of the world,” he said.

By giving its own content priority, the implication is that other traffic would be put into a “best-effort” class and may suffer. “There are two arguments in this debate,” Tooley said. “One is to throw more bandwidth at the issue. The other is to get a return on that bandwidth. If you think of it in the airline model, there's only so many first-class seats.”

Jay Malin, vice president of business development for Cable Matrix, added that cable operators haven't shown an inclination to degrade any particular IP stream except maybe spam. “They're taking a much more inclusive approach,” he said.

Although migrating to something that looks very much like the telco approach to divvying up bandwidth, cable has not been subjected to the same attacks during the ongoing net neutrality debates. In testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation earlier this month, Vonage Chairman Jeffrey Citron singled out only telcos in arguing that net neutrality must be legislated.

“Because Vonage competes directly with the telephone service of the network operators that also provide high-speed Internet access, the incentives to discriminate against us are clear,” he said.

Likewise, BellSouth Chief Technology Officer Bill Smith, who suggested charging content providers for guaranteed bandwidth last month, has become a focal point for those pushing for legislation. At the Senate hearing, Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, said legislating network neutrality would stifle innovation.