Level 3 said that Charter Communications' (NASDAQ: CHTR) peering proposal lacks a number of key details that could affect future relationships.
In an FCC filing, Level 3 noted while it does not have an established peering interconnection agreement with Charter, the service provider is concerned that the cable MSO's agreement needs to address a number of questions and make certain modifications.
"The Level 3 representatives noted that today, Level 3 and Charter do not peer to exchange Internet traffic," Level 3 said in an FCC filing. "But, the Level 3 representatives observed, Charter's announced policy is one that leaves important questions unanswered and contains provisions that should be modified if the policy is to form the basis for peering relationships."
Level 3 outlined six issues it said should be resolved or modified by Charter: duration, traffic exchange scope, trial period, new interconnection locations, interconnection suspension and nondiscrimination.
Charter and Level 3 have been in talks about establishing a peering arrangement. During those discussions, Charter said it would consider Level 3's concerns.
At this point, Level 3 and Charter have not signed or announced a mutually agreeable peering agreement.
Level 3 has been actively pursuing new interconnection agreements. Over the past year it has garnered pacts with a number of large telcos and cable operators such as AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA).
For more:
- see this FCC filing (PDF)
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