Fewer ISPs Seeking Interconnection Fees Since Net Neutrality Order, Level 3 Says
The net neutrality order cut but didn't eliminate the number of ISPs trying to extract interconnection fees, Level 3 said in an FCC filing posted Thursday in docket 15-149. It was part of a response to Media Bureau document requests…
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(see 1510130063) on data in the review of Charter Communications buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable. Since the order, Level 3 said, it has announced peering agreements with consumer ISPs AT&T, Comcast and Verizon that are a "real improvement over the situation ... that existed before the Order's release." But Level 3 said the FCC "should not conclude that large ISPs have stopped exploiting their gatekeeper power to the detriment of the open Internet. ... several of the largest consumer ISPs continue to do just that -- including some of those Level 3 has formed new agreements with." Level 3 said some of those exploitations include "insist[ing] on arbitrary limits on interconnection capacity growth in the new peering agreements ... [and refusing] to add capacity ... without payment of arbitrary tolls." Verizon until recently tried to impose an interconnection fee, Level 3 said. "Even though Verizon and Level 3 networks had plenty of additional unused capacity available, Verizon refused to allow Level 3 sufficient interconnection capacity unless Level 3 would agree to pay a toll to 'open the door' for more traffic. As a result, only a fraction of the Level 3 traffic bound for the Verizon network was successfully transmitted; the rest was blocked by Verizon's conduct." Level 3 urged the agency to make clear what Internet traffic exchange practices are in line with Sections 201 and 202 of the Communications Act "from those that exploit [broadband Internet Access Service] providers' gatekeeper power and therefore are not" in line. Verizon didn't comment Friday. In a separate filing in the docket Thursday, One World Sports (OWS) came out in favor of Charter/BHN/TWC. In its filing, the sports network cited Charter's carriage of One World Sports, its large tier of Hispanic programming that will then be made available to additional customers, and its plans to extend its network to unserved areas. OWS also lauded Charter's eschewing of data caps, usage-based billing, early termination fees and modem lease fees.