Level 3 vs Comcast – explanation, comment, + links

As most are aware Level 3 has complained that it is being gouged by Comcast. It appears Comcast has demanded extra cash for transit costs due to an increased level of traffic due to Level 3’s new arrangement to carry Netflix traffic previously carried by Akamai. Under the Akamai CDN system Comcast had been paid to host Akamai servers on its network and there was obviously less load on their transit costs. No wonder they are unhappy.

Comcast, concerned about public opinion especially with the NBCU merger decision looming have made the following explanatory video:

However it’s difficult to see, at least in the mind of the general public, how this will help their case – the public is accustomed to paying for the bandwidth to receive content, not the other way round! While peering and simple Internet service are not the same thing, the difference is not easily discernible..

There are several illuminating explanations/comments on the web: