Sprint Reproached of 'Partitioning Internet'

Sprint Reproached of 'Partitioning Internet'

Subsequent to a long contractual battle, Sprint-Nextel has cut the internet connection of Cogent Communications, a multinational internet service provider. This resulted to the inability of customers from both companies to communicate. Thus, Cogent accuses sprint of 'partitioning the internet.'
Cogent CEO and founder Dave Schaffer said, "We are fairly aggressive in the industry. We are the second largest carrier of internet traffic, and we have gotten to that position by pricing ourselves much cheaper. This creates a lot of animosity with the companies we interconnect with."

Sprint claims that Cogent was not able to perform its responsibilities during the course of the trial agreement wherein the two companies would exchange approximately the same amounts of traffic without having to shell out some money. Moreover, the agreement required Cogent to pay Sprint should the connections between both companies did not uphold particular utilization levels. Sprint also maintains that Cogent had enough time to work out the issue before its connection was cut off.

However, Cogent denies all the allegations of the telecommunications company. Schaffer noted, "We were notified by Sprint that they wished to change the method of measuring utilization. We protested and explained that this was in violation of the agreement."

Sprint's move caused a major legal clash between the two huge companies, and the case is currently pending.