Comcast, Warner to test Web congestion

Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., the two largest U.S. cable companies, said Tuesday that they would start tests Thursday to prevent congestion on the high-speed Internet networks their customers use.

Comcast, with 14.1 million Internet subscribers, plans to begin tests that focus on the volume of data use and disregard the application used by the customer. Time Warner Cable, with 8.1 million Web clients, will start metering customers in Beaumont, Texas, and levy higher fees on the heaviest users.

The two companies are wrestling with how to keep high-speed Internet services operating smoothly as demand soars for network-stressing features such as streaming video. Comcast has faced accusations that it discriminated against customers using peer-to-peer file-sharing techniques that can be used to send videos.

Federal regulators are investigating whether Comcast improperly blocked some Internet users. The firm says it delayed data to heavy users at times of peak network demand. In March, Comcast pledged to develop ways to manage Internet traffic without focusing on the application used, and to put them into place by the end of the year.

Comcast, based in Philadelphia, said its test would run for 30 days in Chambersburg, Pa., and Warrenton, Va.