I've learned that Comcast will begin testing their new, "protocol agnostic" network management solution starting on Thursday in two markets. Comcast originally came under fire after one of our users discovered the company was forging TCP packets to disrupt BitTorrent communications. If you recall, the FCC's investigation into these practices prompted the carrier to declare it would shift to a "protocol agnostic" solution by the end of this year.

Any customer whose data is temporarily impacted by this technique will find that their data requests must “wait in line” while other customers’ data requests go through first. -Comcast internal memo

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.

"Once testing has been completed and a new management technique has been identified, we will publish a description of this new technique along with additional FAQs to benefit our customers prior to rolling it out nationally," the memo reads. The memo also states that Comcast will consider notifying impacted customers in real-time if their service is being managed "should this be necessary and technically practical."

I'm assuming that this could be accomplished using a warning banner injection system similar to that being used by Canadian cable provider Rogers Communications. The memo is very light on technical specifics, given this is very much a work in progress. It does make reference to a third test market, though the market is not specified.

In addition to the specific targeting of high-consumption users, last May I broke the news that Comcast was also exploring implementing 250GB monthly caps for all users. Comcast is also considering taking DMCA enforcement much more seriously, booting users from the Comcast network who receive four such warnings in a twelve-month period.

While I'm the first to slam Comcast for doing something stupid, their plan so far seems like an improvement, provided Comcast makes it very clear to consumers what triggers this throttling. The only concept I remain steadfastly opposed to is the charging of overage fees (for reasons I've already explored) and I hold some serious reservations about the accuracy of the DMCA letter process. Of course this project remains early in its life cycle, and Comcast will have plenty of opportunities to screw things up in implementation.