Level 3 - Comcast Spat Continues

In a letter to the FCC, Comcast defended its decision to begin charging a fee to Level 3 Communications for delivering online video content to Comcast broadband subscribers. Comcast described the dispute as peering issue involving unequal volumes of traffic.


In response, John Ryan, Assistant Chief Legal Officer of Level 3 Communications, issued the following statement:


"It is regrettable that Comcast has sought to portray this simply as a commercial disagreement or a peering dispute... The fundamental issue is not whether Comcast sends more traffic to Level 3 or whether Level 3 sends more traffic to Comcast. Both Level 3 and Comcast are responding to the requests of Comcast's subscribers, who want to be free to see and use the full suite of content and applications that are available on the Internet today and in the future. Level 3 wants to assure that freedom is preserved.


"Instead, the fundamental issue is whether Comcast, as the largest cable company in the country with absolute control over access to its cable TV and broadband access subscribers, has the right to unilaterally set a 'price' for that access that effectively discriminates against competitors of Comcast's cable and Xfinity content.
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http://www.level3.com