Re: Cogent

Jawaid Bazyar wrote:
> Their network may be great, but customer service is important too. And 
> playing chicken with other backbones in a way which disconnects your own 
> customers from Level3, as Cogent did, to then provide no credit to your 
> own customers but to instead offer free service for a year to Level3 
> customers, is indicative of management that doesn't give a *** about its 
> own customers. 

Hmmm.  I don't quite see it that way.  IMHO, anyone who doesn't 
understand that this type of policy is how Cogent keeps their costs low 
and why your own price for their service is lower than the price you 
would pay for the same service from other Tier 1s shouldn't be buying 
Tier 1 bandwidth, or at least shouldn't be buying it from Cogent.

Cogent's game of playing "chicken" with the other Tier 1s keeps the Tier 
1s from forming a cabal of sorts (TINC not withstanding) which would 
ultimately up the price for all of us.

Can you say OPEC boys and girls?  Yes, I knew you could!  The cost to 
deliver a barrel of oil from the fields doesn't change much from year to 
year, yet our cost to buy it has gone up dramatically in the past few 
years.  This is because there is no competition, no alternative but to 
pay the price the oil barons want us to pay.  As long as they control 
the output and artificially keep the available supply lower than the 
demand, prices go up.

If we let the Tier 1s create a similar "lock" on backbone bandwidth 
"capacity", services, and pricing, you can bet your bottom dollar 
internet access rates will end up going up just like oil has.  Except 
for their OWN subsidiary ISPs, of course.  Small ISPs are already 
fighting (and often losing the battle) for fair rates on the last mile 
to the customer, and fighting against TelCo ISPs that sell services to 
customers for less than the cost of the bare copper to carry the same 
services when they price the "line" to their competitors.  Say goodbye 
to independent ISPs (which means almost everyone on this list) if Cogent 
is forced to play by the rest of the Tier 1s' rules.

jc

-- 
Eat sushi frequently. - Avi
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