Cogent Holding Off On Net Neutrality Complaints -- for Now

Transit provider Cogent said it has not yet filed any interconnection-related network neutrality complaints and is still trying to negotiate with the remaining, "offending," Internet service providers, though its CEO signaled those negotiations have improved since the Federal Communications Commission signaled its new rules would include interconnection. Cogent is one of the companies -- Netflix is another -- that cable operators are expecting could file complaints under the new network neutrality rules, which went into effect June 12 and, for the first time, included interconnections issues as potential net neutrality violations.

Initially, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had signaled that middle-mile interconnection issues were separate from those involving the customer-facing, last-mile ISP connections, but that changed last fall along with the original plan not to reclassify ISPs under Title II common-carrier regulations. Cogent had signaled it could be filing complaints once the new rules went into effect, and still could. But Cogent CEO Dave Schaefer said that the FCC's order, adopted back in February, had accelerated interconnection agreement talks -- Verizon Communications and AT&T have both struck deals Cogent was happy with, and that negotiations with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink were ongoing.