While broadband ISPs have repeatedly claimed that the country's new net neutrality rules would destroy the Internet, so far they're having quite the opposite effect. Comcast Communications is the latest to strike a new interconnection deal with Level 3 before the FCC's new neutrality rules take effect on June 12. For the first time ever, those rules allow companies to file formal complaints if they believe an ISP is engaged in anti-competitive behavior on the interconnection front.
Comcast and Level 3 have been
fighting for years, with Level3 accusing Comcast of holding its massive subscriber base hostage as a way to extract steeper interconnection tolls and eliminate the idea of settlement-free peering.
In a blog post last year, Level 3 accused Comcast and other ISPs of "deliberately harming" network performance to make an extra buck. But all that's behind them with Comcast's new announcement, in which Comcast says it's "delighted" to have a deal signed:
quote:
"We are delighted to strengthen our relationship with Level 3. Today’s announcement reflects the important ways in which network participants exchange value in an innovative marketplace," said John Schanz, chief network officer at Comcast Cable. "We place great value on our relationships with network partners like Level 3 and are continually seeking mutually beneficial, market-driven agreements that enhance value throughout the network."
The deal comes on the heels of a flood of similar deals between Verizon, AT&T, Cogent and Level 3. You'll recall Cogent, Netflix and Level 3 had been accusing AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable of
letting peering points intentionally saturate in order to create a state of "permanent congestion," thereby forcing companies like Netflix to pay for direct interconnection if they wanted consumer stream performance uninterrupted.Despite last mile ISP efforts to kill settlement-free peering, many of these new deals don't involve payments. Cogent and Level 3 had hinted that they'd file complaints when the new rules went into effect. As such, the mere threat of real neutrality enforcement appears to have Verizon, AT&T and Comcast suddenly on their very best behavior.