Comcast Corp, the top U.S. cable operator, said on Tuesday it will partner with a second file-sharing company Pando Networks as it tries to avoid a criticism over its controversial management of Internet traffic on its broadband network.

The two companies said they plan to test Pando's Network Aware P2P technology on Comcast's fiber-optic network to analyze the data flow associated with downloading a file using the P2P application.

The Philadelphia broadband cable network provider said it will publicize the test results so other ISPs can learn how to optimize P2P applications for traveling over different types of networks.

File sharing is generally used to illegally transfer copyright works like music and movies, but it's also a cheap way to distribute legal video. Pando said it is joining Comcast and supporting the Bill of Rights.

Pando will also conduct tests on a variety of other ISP networks, including cable, DSL, fiber and wireless to measure performance, speed and bandwidth consumption impact on the ISP.

Comcast said in March that it has been talking with file-sharing service BitTorrent Inc. to come up with better ways to transport large files over the Internet. The Federal Communications Commission has been investigating the company for allegedly secretly delaying some traffic between file-sharing computers.

Comcast Broadband