CenturyLink, Cogent Strike Interconnection Deal

CenturyLink and Cogent Communications said they have entered into a “long-term, bilateral interconnection agreement” for their respective public IP networks. Financial terms were not revealed, but they said the agreement “allows the exchange of Internet traffic in a balanced, scalable and mutually economical manner to accommodate the growing use of the Internet.”

Time Warner Cable and Cogent announced a similar deal in Oct, which arrived as Charter Communications and TWC look to gain approval of their proposed merger. Interconnection is one of the issues that regulators are being watchful of during the vetting process. Charter has pledged to uphold a settlement-free interconnection policy until the end of 2018, and that it would extend that policy extended to TWC systems, if the deal were approved.