Jiangsu Communications Administration Orders ISPs Not to Arbitrarily Suspend or Throttle Broadband over PCDN Crackdowns

Repost#

There has been a lot of discussion about PCDN recently, mainly because network operators in some provinces and cities have been suspending users’ broadband or reducing upstream bandwidth in the name of PCDN crackdowns. To get their lines restored, users are often told they must schedule an on-site visit for photos and sign a guarantee statement before service is reactivated.

PCDN (P2P CDN) is a peer-to-peer content delivery protocol where data flows directly between users rather than entirely through centralized servers. Some companies—especially video platforms—quietly enable PCDN in their clients and leverage users’ upload bandwidth to deliver data to other users, saving these companies significant server bandwidth costs.

However, residential broadband in China is not symmetric to begin with; upstream bandwidth is relatively low. When these companies consume users’ upload bandwidth, it can degrade the user’s own Internet experience and may even get the broadband account suspended by the network operator.

The earlier PCDN crackdown by Shanghai Unicom triggered a flood of complaints because some users’ BT/PT usage was also classified as profit-seeking PCDN, leading to broadband suspension. Operators in other provinces and cities have reportedly launched similar enforcement campaigns.

Last night, a user on the “通信人家园” forum posted that issues caused by recent PCDN crackdowns have already drawn the attention of regulators. The Jiangsu Communications Administration has required ISPs in Jiangsu Province not to arbitrarily suspend users’ broadband or reduce bandwidth on the grounds of PCDN remediation.

According to the Jiangsu Communications Administration, throttling users’ broadband speeds or suspending their access under the banner of PCDN crackdowns lacks sufficient legal basis, violates the terms of the contract between the parties, and infringes on users’ lawful rights and interests. ISPs are therefore required to faithfully fulfill their contractual obligations, and if similar violations are discovered in the future, the Administration will investigate and punish them in accordance with the law.

Judging from the screenshots shared by netizens, this appears to be a notice issued by the provincial branch of a Jiangsu ISP to its municipal branches, requiring them to immediately convey the above requirements to relevant local departments and districts/counties.

There is still no clear official announcement, but as PCDN-related disputes continue to escalate, operators will likely either try to renegotiate contracts and add relevant clauses, or be forced to stop limiting users’ upload and download volumes.

Thoughts#

All I can say is: the Communications Administration has finally done something right. Users have long suffered under the three major operators. Back in February, both the China Telecom and China Mobile broadband at my home were throttled or even disconnected. The network became almost unusable: even the still-connected Mobile line was heavily QoS’d, download speeds capped below 100 Mbps, upstream at just 0.5 Mbps, with random drops of both small and large packets—truly infuriating.

A manager from the operator came to collect evidence. There was no PCDN device at home, so they only photographed the server and NAS, saying the photos would be submitted to the network team for review. The efficiency was abysmal. I kept filing complaints, and only about a week later was the network finally restored to normal.