Re: Cogent

On Aug 21, 2008, at 1:59 PM, JC Dill wrote:
> Patrick W. Gilmore wrote:
>> On Aug 20, 2008, at 6:30 PM, JC Dill wrote:
>>> 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.
>>
>> That would all make sense if Cogent were the lowest priced provider  
>> out there.
>>
>> Cogent's lowest price offer in 5 of the last 5 years has been  
>> higher than at least one "tier one" and frequently multiple tier  
>> ones.
>
> Cogent is reliably "one of the cheapest" Tier 1s even when they  
> aren't the absolute cheapest.  Other Tier 1s have to offer low(er)  
> prices (comparable to Cogent) to compete.  Without Cogent and  
> Cogent's business plan and policy, IMHO the lowest prices offered  
> would be higher than they are now.

1) Cogent is not a Tier One.  They did recently transition to transit  
free, but they weren't even transit free until a few months ago.

2) No, Cogent is _not_ reliably one of the cheapest.  If you think so,  
you weren't trying hard enough. :)

3) We disagree.  Schafer told me the same thing, I didn't believe him  
either.


> This is just my opinion, but that's usually how a free market works  
> - when the lowest priced service is lost (goes bankrupt or is forced  
> out of business with unfair (monopoly) practices, or is bought out)  
> all the others raise their rates.

I did not realize that in a market place with literally dozens of  
choices that removing one would make all the rest raise their prices.

-- 
TTFN,
patrick

-- 
Eat sushi frequently. - Avi
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