Is Comcast Impairing Vonage?

Mar 06, 2006 | Inside: Business Strategies

On the one hand, the big telcos are chanting the mantram, “We shall not block, impair or degrade any content, service or application.” On the other hand, they’re saying, “There’s no problem. We don’t need a law until there’s a problem.”

Well, now. Mitch Shapiro over at IP & Democracy, points to Russell Shaw’s post that says:

I have been noticing a growing number of posts in which many Vonage users and Vonage Forum Members have been complaining about the quality of Vonage calls over Comcast broadband connections… something has happened. Two weeks ago, a Vonage Forum Member named rdstoll began a Vonage Forum thread called Comcast vs. Vonage. The last time I checked, this thread had 116 posts and nearly 7,000 page views. That’s an exceptionally high number… many of these complaints are from Vonage users and Forum Members who have been around for awhile, and are more used to giving problem-solving advice in the Forum then venting about it..."

Comcast, of course, offers its own POTS-over-Cable telephone service. Could it be that they’re trying to introduce a little motivation to switch? One commentator on Shaw’s post says:

It’s definitely not just Vonage. Skype has become impossible to use on Comcast 3-4 month ago… My friend in the area with a much slower DSL connection has perfect VOIP quaility.

Comcast could do us all a favor now by getting really blatant. I hope the FCC and Congress are watching!

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