Adaptive cost of service for communication network based on level of network congestion

A communication system, comprising:

• a communication network;
• a network controller for controlling access to the communication network, determining a level of congestion of the communication network, calculating a cost of service based on the level of congestion;
• and
• a plurality of network devices, each of the plurality of network devices for accessing the communication network, receiving the cost of service from the network controller, receiving from a corresponding user of each of the plurality of network devices, respectively, a first selection specifying a content to be downloaded during a download process, receiving a second selection from the corresponding user specifying a cost of service threshold for the download process, automatically comparing the cost of service to the cost of service threshold, and automatically performing the download process when the cost of service is less than the cost of service threshold.