NCTA Response to FCC on Net Congestion 'Misguided,' Commercial Network Services Says

Some broadband Internet access service (BIAS) providers use congestion at interconnection points and selective application of interconnection policy to help them "extort the edge into unnecessarily purchasing 'transit,'" said Commercial Network Services in an FCC filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-28. This is the only way many edge providers can provide BIAS consumers with the content they are seeking, said the company, which complained about Time Warner Cable's peering practices (see 1510070042). This "loophole" in the net neutrality order is causing "great harm" to the "virtuous cycle," Commercial Network Services said. It agreed with Level 3's most recent opinion in the docket (see 1511270035) and called NCTA's response to the FCC "misguided." The FCC Measuring Broadband America report (see 1512300037) confirms that cable operators have been "steadily raising the speeds they offer consumers and consistently delivering the performance they advertise," an NCTA spokesman said Tuesday. "NCTA’s recent ex parte letter reiterated our willingness to participate with other Internet companies in an open, collaborative FCC process to develop such a regime."