Virgin Media has denied that it engages in application-specific traffic throttling after a Web User reader complained about problems uploading data to the Humyo online storage service.

The reader wrote to Web User saying that he was restricted to upload speeds of 192Kbps off-peak and 112Kbps during peak times.

"With Virgin Media's traffic throttling policy I have found that if I am uploading to Humyo, or have the PC client uploading in the background, then no-one else can even check their emails, never mind browse the web or download anything," he said.

The reader is on Virgin Media's 'M' package, which offers a 2Mbps download speed and a maximum upload speed of 256Kbps, dropping to 128Kbps during peak times.

Virgin Media denied that it would engage in application- or site-specific packet-shaping or traffic management.

The company told Web User that the package the reader is on is designed for light users and said that if the Humyo client was constantly saturating his network with data, then everything else would slow down.

A Virgin Media spokesman said: "He has recently changed his pattern of usage, increasing the amount he is transferring to and from the internet on a regular basis. The 'M' size broadband package provides speeds up to 2Mbps and is designed for casual surfing and email, with occasional downloading.

"In order to get better speeds for increased transfer, and to ensure enough bandwidth remains so that he can enjoy surfing at the same time as transferring data, an upgrade to our 'L' (10Mbps) or 'XL' (20Mbps) packages will make this type of usage possible," the spokesman continued.

Virgin Media was accused by a forum member on the CableForum website, who claimed to be an ex-Virgin Media employee, of throttling the traffic of customers using peer-to-peer applications, as Web User reported in Issue 191.

However, the allegations were not proven and Virgin Media said that there was no evidence that the person behind the posting ever worked for the company.

For more information on the topic of traffic throttling, see Issue 193 of Web User, which is currently on sale.

www.virginmedia.com

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