Method and apparatus for dynamically adapting telephony analog loss based on channel content

A method is provided for introducing analog loss to an information-bearing signal being transmitted to or from end-user terminal equipment over a communication system such as a cable network The method begins by establishing a communication path to the terminal equipment over the communication system and then introducing a level of loss into the communication path to reduce echo. The level of loss that is introduced is based on the information content of the information-bearing signal.