10:50 PM -- Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), already far along the IPv6 adoption curve, expects to conduct "real, production-network trials" of the fresh addressing scheme later this year, according to this posting made Wednesday by MSO executive director of Internet systems Jason Livingood.

He notes that the first tech trial will begin within the "next couple of months," and is inviting Comcast subs to participate by checking in at the MSO's IPv6 Information Center Website.

Comcast has been preparing for the move for several years, and its aggressive deployment of Docsis 3.0 fits in here because the CableLabs spec, in addition to enabling speeds of 100 Mbit/s or more, also supports IPv6.

Comcast's backbone has been v6-enabled for some time, and the MSO indicated last year that 2010 would set the stage for tech trials, though full deployment could take several years. Comcast also intends to sell v6 transit for wholesale customers, with BitGravity Inc. and The Planet Internet Services Inc. among those already on the list. (See Comcast Braces for IPv6.)

Seven months after that revelation and Comcast is just about to get some "real" v6 testing underway. Although timing's subject to change, here's what the MSO's shooting for this year:

Although Comcast's v6 efforts are well along, other MSOs will need to have a plan of action up and running fairly soon.

The American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN) told ISPs last April that "IPv4 will be depleted within the next two years" at the current rate of consumption.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News