Three launches mobile broadband traffic shaping

With falling prices and increased penetration, it was inevitable that mobile broadband providers would start to manage traffic - and Three (3) are first out of the blocks with news that they will start traffic shaping P2P traffic in busy areas at peak times.

A spokesman said:

"In busy areas, at busy times customers using mobile broadband can experience a slower service.

We're taking steps that improve the web-browsing, email and streaming experience on our network by making sure that the real-time experience gets the priority it deserves."

In order to improve the service for the majority of our customers we are actively managing the amount of bandwidth made available for peer-to-peer file sharing at peak times in busy areas."

Peak times is defined at 6pm to midnight, and the 'busy areas' no doubt mean the most popular cells in large cities, train stations and other areas where large groups of people can be found.

The new system starts tomorrow.