In the wake of the Level 3-Cogent fiasco, VARs are making preparations for the next time an Internet provider pulls the plug on Web traffic, which experts say is not an if, but a when.
Earlier this month, partners scrambled to customers’ aid after Level 3 Communications disconnected Cogent Communications as an Internet peer. The reason, according to Level 3: Cogent’s excessive traffic volume. Free peering is a common practice among Internet backbone companies as a way to simplify customer access across the Internet. By disconnecting Cogent, Level 3 cut off access to millions of IP addresses.
“We learned about it from a sudden burst of sporadic customer calls,” said Tim Bradley, senior vice president of VoIP at New Global Telecom, a Level 3 master agent in Golden, Colo. “We were given no warning.”
From now on, Bradley will advise customers to have a second Internet provider to act as a failover.
One of Cogent’s largest customers, an online gaming company that survives off the Web, saw Internet traffic plummet 25 percent when Level 3 pulled the plug, said Quy “Q” Nguyen, founder and CEO of Allyance Communications Networks, Irvine, Calif. Nguyen said the experience shows agents and VARs the importance of choosing the right Internet provider partner.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
