Comcast tests take a number and wait network management

When a market lacks adequate competitive forces, providers will invest in rationing before they invest in more product. Here’s more proof that there is not adequate competition in American broadband access: Comcast has cooked up yet another network management AKA rationing scheme. This concept is as old as the service cue at any government office. It’s called take a number and wait. Comcast’s subscribers are going to love it!

Comcast CTO Tony Werner stated at the time that “the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today’s emerging Internet trends.” According to an internal memo obtained by Broadband Reports, this more “appropriate” system will be tested in the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and Warrenton, Virginia markets from June until July.

The memo indicates that the company will be testing several management techniques (I’d assume from different vendors) in the two markets over the next month, all of which solely target high-consumption users at peak congestion times. If you recall, Comcast’s existing system throttles the upstream BitTorrent traffic for all users twenty-four hours a day (something Comcast denied).

This new solution will ensure that heavy users are “temporarily placed behind other users until the congestion has passed.” Those users will be forced to “wait in line” while other customers’ data requests go through first. (Broadband Reports)