A network subscriber of an automation communication network is provided to exchange data with further network subscribers in the automation communication network at a predetermined clock frequency. The network subscriber has an internal clock for synchronizing the data exchange with at least one other network subscriber. The internal clock is embodied to provide a time as an integer count value. The clock frequency is determined in such a way that a period duration per clock pulse cannot be represented as an integer count value by the internal clock. A method of operating the network subscriber in the automation communication network comprises the following method step: the internal clock is incremented with a predetermined sequence of integer increments. The sequence of integer increments is predetermined such that a sum of the integer increments corresponds to an integer multiple of the period duration.