Can Comcast really be this dense?
So, I guess the big news today is that Comcast is threatening to de-peer with Level3 due to the possibility of future out-of-contract traffic ratios across their peering links, as Level3 has acquired Netflix as a customer. This has got to be one of the most stupid things I’ve heard of an ISP doing. By having settlement-free interconnects (peering links) with one another, Level3 is doing Comcast a huge favor — and I’ll explain why.
In the red corner, we have Comcast… a Tier 2 network provider and purveyor of Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial (cable) internet service to millions of end-users. Comcast is not a Tier 1 provider; they pay for transit alongside using their peering interconnects.
In the blue corner, we have Level3… a Tier 1 network provider and VOIP, dial-up, and DSL wholesaler as well as transit, colocation, and content delivery network (CDN) provider. Level3 does NOT pay anyone for transit; they have settlement-free connections with other Tier 1 and Tier 2 providers, and are a huge part of the Internet’s backbone.
Let’s think about this for a moment. The majority of Comcast’s traffic by volume is inbound to retail end-users, whose primary use of the service is to download content. The majority of Level3′s traffic which traverses the edge of their network is outbound from colocation or CDN customers. So, we’ve established that Comcast and Level3 both have nearly opposing traffic metrics when dealing with the services that this dispute revolves around.
Peering is a beautiful thing; it allows for fast, direct connections between two providers at minimal cost for the benefit of both. In this case, both Comcast and Level3 customers see a marked improvement in speed and latency when this traffic doesn’t have to traverse several different networks in order reach from Level3 to Comcast.
So, Comcast now wants to charge Level3 for these peering interconnects, claiming that it’s not fair for Level3 to dump that much data onto their network for free. That’s right, Comcast wants to double-dip and charge THEIR end-user for service along with charging the originating content provider for sending data to their user.
Here’s the rub: whether or not these peering links exist, that data’s going to traverse Comcast’s network to reach their end users anyway. Since Comcast’s not a Tier 1 provider, it’s all going to fall back on their transit links. Level3 is a Tier 1, so it’s going to traverse their other settlement-free links to reach Comcast.
What happens if Comcast pulls the plug? Comcast’s customers are going to request the data anyway, so it now traverses their transit links and increases their costs, and Comcast customers’ experience while using these services will likely be degraded, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and support/service calls.
Comcast seems to be staring down the barrel of a shotgun with their toe in the trigger guard, one involuntary twitch away from blowing their face clean off. Not that this surprises me in the least.



