Verizon's Netflix users suffer from peering dispute with Cogent, report says

Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) broadband users have been seeing a less than optimal quality Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX)  video streaming experience thanks, reportedly, to a network peering fight the telco is engaged in with bandwidth provider Cogent Communications (Nasdaq: CCOI), a GigaOM article says.

Both of these service providers have extensive worldwide network facilities that connect to the broader Internet, but apparently Verizon is letting the ports that exchange traffic overflow.

"They are allowing the peer connections to degrade," said David Schaeffer, founder, chairman, CEO and president of Cogent in an interview with GigaOM. "Today some of the ports are at 100 percent capacity."

Although Verizon did not mention Netflix specifically, the telco said that Cogent is carrying traffic for a major video provider. Netflix, according to Schaeffer, is one of its largest customers.

When GigaOM asked Verizon if it was having a peering issue with Cogent related to Netflix, the telco responded with a quote about the strength of its network.  

Cogent has seen its share of peering disputes over the past five years. Besides Verizon, Cogent and its customer Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) were entangled in a peering fight with France Telecom in January.

For more:
- GigaOM has this article

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