Cox shapes traffic based on 'time sensitivity'

Cox Communications, the third largest US cable operator, has announced its network management policy, joining fellow MSO Comcast on the firing lines.

Cox announced its plans on its Web site Tuesday night, noting it will trial the new system in Kansas and Arkansas initially before expanding to the rest of its territory.

Its underlying traffic shaping method: at times of congestion, all “time-sensitive” traffic – which it defines to include Web pages, voice calls, streaming video, VPN tunneling and games – would not be delayed. However, less time-sensitive traffic, including FTP transfers, network storage, P2P, software updates and Usenet groups, could be.

That greatly differs from Comcast’s approach (read a detailed examination in Comcast’s Congestion Catch-22). While Comcast initially delayed P2P packets to clear up congestion, the FCC ordered it to move away from a protocol-specific approach. Its latest approach focuses on throttling heavy users for a short time period (15 minutes) only during times of delay.

Cox’s decision to differentiate between specific services and protocols (http in one bucket; ftp, p2p in another) could draw the ire of the FCC. Indeed, it’s especially surprising they are promoting this approach given the fact that Comcast remains under close scrutiny on this front.

That said, Cox defended its practices in an FAQ, calling its new processes a step forward compared to past approaches. “Our past practices were based on traffic prioritization and protocol filtering,” Cox said. “This new technique is based on the time-sensitive nature of the Internet traffic itself, and we believe it will lead to a smoother Internet experience with fewer delays.”

As for treating over-the-top applications more strictly than its own, Cox said, “Our approach is based on the time-sensitivity of the traffic that’s using our network – it is not based on the owner or source of the traffic.”

That won’t be good enough for critics, including Free Press, which played a key role in Comcast’s travails and which hit Cox quickly: "The lesson we learned from the Comcast case is that we must be skeptical of any practice that comes between users and the Internet,” said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press in a statement. "The information provided by Cox gives little indication about how its new practices will impact Internet users, or if they comply with the FCC's Internet Policy Statement. Cox customers will certainly want to know more about how the company is interfering with their Internet traffic and what criteria it uses to discriminate.”

Unlike Comcast, Cox has not yet disclosed the vendors it is using to deploy its network management system.