If you’re a paying, longtime Comcast customer who has been thinking of upgrading to the much-touted cloud-based X1 platform, you may have to get in line behind new customers — more precisely, only those new customers who want to subscribe to a Triple-Play cable/Internet/phone bundle.

This is according to a document, provided to Consumerist by a source at Comcast, that was apparently sent to employees in the company’s “Freedom Region,” the Comcast name for the 2 million+ subscribers in its home-base area of Philadelphia/New Jersey/Delaware.

The company claims that the X1 rollout has been so popular that it is “having a tough time keeping X1 boxes on our shelves.”

Since not everyone who wants one can get the upgraded tech, Comcast says it is “taking short-term steps to ensure we’re managing available inventory against business needs through the holiday season.”

Thus, X1 is only being offered — at least in the Freedom Region — to new Triple-Play customers, meaning new customers who don’t want to pay for a telephone they don’t need (because people don’t even talk on their cellphones anymore) won’t get the X1 tech that Comcast has been promising in its ads.

The document also specifically states that it will “temporarily discontinue deployment of X1 to existing customers.”

In an effort to not hurt these customers’ feelings too much, Comcast is “in the process of removing any advertising to our existing base of customers.”

Even Comcast employees are getting the shaft in favor of new Triple-Play customers, as the document spells out a temporary hold on X1 installs for Comcast workers.

We’ve asked Comcast about this story and whether it applies nationwide. The document also does not give any timeframe for just how long this embargo on upgrades for most of its customers will last. If the company decides to respond, we will update.

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