Comcast-Vonage Deal Generates Critics

Some days you can't win. Comcast's announcement of an agreement with Vonage to address "reasonable network management" of VoIP is raising eyebrows and criticism.

Wednesday's announcement of the two companies working together has called into question Comcast's network management practices, says Information Week.  Free Press, a non-profit organization working to reform the media, is wondering why Vonage needs to cut a deal with Comcast to guarantee that its services are not degraded or blocked.   The organization wants to know if Comcast has degraded Vonage services in the past and if they continue to degrade other services from competitors.

Comcast says they've only affected peer-to-peer applications, a stance which has the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not happy and prepared to issue an order for the cable company to stop blocking any applications, disclose its network management practices, and submit a timetable on when and how the cable operator aims to comply with the order.

Needless to say if the order comes to pass, Comcast is likely to go to court on the matter.  Or the company may simply stall for time and see what a new administration might bring to Washington.

For more:
- Vonage working with Comcast [1] release
- Information Week opines on Vonage Comcast deal [2]

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