Orange and Cogent fight over traffic management before French competition watchdog
American transit operator Cogent has filed an interesting complaint against internet service provider Orange before the French competition authority, the Autorité de la Concurrence (AC). Orange is accused of slowing down access to certain sites of Cogent customers, one of which is MegaUpload.
MegaUpload is a file hosting service, where users can upload and download files. Because many, if not most of the popular files uploaded and downloaded from MegaUpload are large files such as pirated movies and games, MegaUpload, which is run by the convicted hacker Kim Schmitz, generates immense amounts of Internet traffic. It is estimated that about 75% of all traffic from cyberlockers is infringing, and it is suspected that that figure is even higher for MegaUpload. According to a study by Envisional, 5% of the worldwide internet traffic is infringing traffic from cyberlockers. Until recently MegaUpload operated a program whereby uploaders received money for uploading popular files. The goal of these kinds of programs is to get more popular content onto the cyberlocker. Because these programs are so successful, they create a lot of upload traffic. However, they create an even greater amount of download traffic, since there are more popular files on the service. It is thus no surpise that with customers like MegaUpload, a lot of traffic flows to and from the Cogent network.
The underlying discussion is not so much about copyright however, but rather about interconnection. Interconnection, or ‘peering’ is a technical and complex subject, but its implications for the general public emerge gradually, partly due to the recent debate on net neutrality. Cogent is a provider of bandwidth capacity and accounts for 17% of world traffic. Its optic fiber network covers North America and Europe and connects to other networks (the internet being a sum of interconnected networks). Its customers are mainly ISPs and content providers. Orange is in the same business as Cogent -through their subsidiary company Open Transit- and they are engaged in so-called peering agreements.
This type of agreement is common between Internet operators. To enable subscribers to access any site in the world, they must be connected to any network and for that they must build “cable” capacity or establish interconnection agreements. In peering deals, ISPs usually agree to exchange traffic for free when the data flow between two networks is in balance. However, Orange indicates that Cogent sends eight times more traffic towards them than the amount they send to Cogent. This may well be contrary to the agreed conditions of peering. The two rivals now seem to have difficulty to renegotiate their peering terms, as Orange has since decided to slow down traffic that comes from Cogent, including traffic generated by Cogent’s customer MegaUpload. For Orange-subscribers this means MegaUpload is more difficult to reach.
Cogent now formally complained to the French Competition Authority, stating that the connection speeds Orange provides are inadequate. It calls on the AC to force Orange to interconnect properly, or else risk a fine. “Orange wants to charge us to reach our customers and that is not normal. Orange took advantage of their dominant position and that is violating the rules of competition," said Dave Schaeffer, CEO of Cogent.
The complaint by Cogent is curious, as it seems the dispute with Orange originally emerged when Cogent failed to act in accordance with peering agreements between the two companies. As Cogent’s customers offer services that generate high pressure on other ISP’s network capacity, it is not surprising that operators like Orange charge them for traffic imbalances on the basis of peering agreements. Clearly, the talks between the parties concerned are stalling.
According to L’express.fr, this is not the first time Cogent conflicts with other network operators over interconnection payments. There have been clashes on peering agreements before with Sprint, Level 3 and TeliaSonera. Industry experts say this kind of litigation will increase in the years to come. ISPs have to manage more and more traffic, while they must maintain their networks and invest in local infrastructure.
The AC will now assess the complaint. It will be interesting to see what their response is and what outcome they find in the best interest of the French consumer.
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