Abstract: A congestion management apparatus for receiving a traffic data stream and an associated control signal, wherein the apparatus detects a congestion indicator in the traffic data stream and generates congestion control data. The apparatus incorporates the congestion control data into the control signal and sends the control signal to a streaming server to control the rate at which the streaming server sends the traffic data. The apparatus selects an adaptation method depending on a protocol associated with the control signal and generates the congestion control data in accordance with the adaptation method. The apparatus is modular and may be adapted to support a plurality of protocols and adaptation methods. The traffic data may comprise real time data, especially video data and/or audio data, transmitted using one or more connectionless transport protocol, such as Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) over User Datagram Protocol (UDP).