level 3 communications
totelcom communications, llc et al v. level 3 communications, llc et al
glassdoor has 22 level 3 communications reviews submitted anonymously by level 3 communications employees. read employee reviews and ratings on glassdoor to decide if level 3 communications is right for you .
glassdoor gives you an inside look at what it' s like to work at level 3 communications, including salaries, reviews, office photos, and more. this is the level 3 communications company profile. all content is posted anonymously by employees working at level 3 communications .
ask a question about working or interviewing at level 3 communications. our community is ready to answer .
the management at level 3 communications gave unrealistic demands from their employees. guidance is often time unclear. i would not recommending working at level 3 .
level 3 communications was founded by kevin j. o' hara in 1985 and is headquartered in broomfield, co .
compare internet solutions vs. level 3 communications (part of centurylink) in network services, global | gartner peer insights
level 3 communications is now part of centurylink. for up to date information and jobs, please see the centurylink profile .
level 3 communications, now centurylink, is a premier global communications provider, that provides communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. many companies say they have the ability to change the world. at centurylink, we mean it. connectivity is ...
i applied through an employee referral. the process took 1 day. i interviewed at level 3 communications (chandler, az) in january 2016 .
working for level 3: if you' re looking for a company where you can build career success, look at level 3 .
level 3 communications was a good place to learn and grow into a telecommunications environment from an infrastructure and project management perceptive. the were recently acquired by centurylink .
in early 1998, kdg announced it was changing its name to level 3 communications, inc. , after substantially increasing the emphasis it placed on and the resources devoted to its communications and information services business. on april 1, 1998, level 3 common stock started trading on the nasdaq stock market under the symbol lvlt .
level 3 communications provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. level 3’s comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; ip - based voice and data communications; wide - area ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud - based solutions. level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities .
existing level 3 customers please call 1. 877. 4level3. new and / or future level 3 customers can contact our security sales teams at
level 3 communications, inc. (nyse: lvlt) is a fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. level 3’s comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; ip - based voice and data communications; wide - area ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud - based solutions. level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of level 3 communications, inc. for more information, please visit urltoken or get to know us on twitter, facebook and linkedin .
network operations specialist salaries at level 3 communications can range from $ 42, 847 - $ 85, 764. this estimate is based upon 2 level 3 communications network operations specialist salary report (s) provided by employees or estimated based upon statistical methods. see all network operations specialist salaries to learn how this stacks up in the market .
q13: comcast says this is all about level 3' s contract with netflix. comcast says that level 3 bid too low expecting to get free interconnection, and now that comcast has refused level 3 is trying to salvage the deal. is this only about money level 3 might lose ?
q8: comcast says that level 3 sends it 5 times the traffic that comcast sends level 3. is that true? if it is true, why shouldn' t level 3 pay for the traffic it sends to comcast ?
it doesn’t wait for business requirements at level 3 communications — it co - creates them, says cio atilla tinic. learn how he is changing the culture in his it organization .
the way we communicate and collaborate is changing. simplicity starts with level 3 .
but today, level 3 decided to voice its displeasure in a blog post by general counsel for regulatory policy michael mooney. additionally, level 3 recently asked the federal communications commission to regulate the network interconnections known as peering in a possible revision of network neutrality rules .
level 3 communications (nyse: lvlt) and comcast (nasdaq: cmcsa) have come to terms over their much publicized interconnection dispute, but did not reveal the terms of their agreement .
level 3' s position is simply duplicitous. when another network provider tried to pass traffic onto level 3 this way, level 3 said this is not the way settlement - free peering works in the internet world. when traffic is way out of balance, level 3 said, it will insist on a commercially negotiated solution .
level 3 has inaccurately portrayed the commercial negotiations between it and comcast. these discussions have nothing to do with level 3' s desire to distribute different types of network traffic .
, calling on the federal communications commission to intervene and adopt
strong
net neutrality regulations to include such arrangements .
level 3 peering dispute: ports to 5 u. s. internet providers are permanently congested
for more: - see the statement related articles: level 3 protests fees to deliver netflix movies to comcast customers level 3 adds 1. 65 tbps capacity to its content delivery network
recent public battles over how network interconnections affect the quality of streaming video have almost all involved one company: cogent communications .
november 1, 2017 marks a significant milestone in the history of both centurylink and level 3 communications as we become one company — a new centurylink, purpose - built to serve the connection needs of the networked world .
level 3 communications, inc. provides integrated communications services, non - switched and local - access telecommunications services. it provides ip - based communications services to enterprise, content, government and wholesale customers. the company products include content distribution & performance, data networks, managed & professional services, security, voice uc & c and cloud security. it operates through four reportable segments: north america, europe, the middle east and africa, latin america and tw telecom .
level 3 continued investments in infrastructure to become a world - class communications provider, and won the trust of the world’s most sophisticated communications companies. in addition to ongoing construction, the company expanded its assets with the february 2003 acquisition of genuity. over the next few years, and through a major industry downturn, level 3 pursued a strategy that focused on both the balance sheet and investing for the inevitable industry rebound. level 3 won the confidence of investors, as the company raised more money than all other nexgen carriers combined; and also of customers, who made level 3 one of the world’s top three internet traffic carriers .
there' s no better public example of that ambiguity than the level 3 / comcast mudfight .
level 3' s
answer
is just bizarre. this dispute is not about what our end user customers pay for. this is about what level 3 won' t pay for. and the key question is whether level 3 should force comcast' s customers to subsidize level 3' s costs as level 3 goes into a new business as a cdn - - or, put another way, whether level 3 should have to shoulder its own costs when it offers to haul netflix' s content around the internet, just like every one of its competitors does .
comcast and level 3 fought as early as 2010 over the amount of netflix traffic that level 3 was sending into comcast' s network. level 3 agreed to pay comcast for network interconnection at the time
under protest .
level 3 and comcast announced another agreement in 2013 in a brief press release containing no details, but there was apparently still some tension between the companies .
from its beginning, level 3 communications was founded on the principles of the silicon economics sm cycle: create a global telecommunications network with the scale to reduce unit costs, stimulate demand with these lower costs, support that demand by scaling even more. level 3 created a network that serves as a foundation for the communications services of the 21st century by providing, among other things, information transmission over a fiber optic network and media delivery over a content delivery network. and we’ve grown to support the end - to - end communications services that businesses and carriers rely on .
telecommunications company centurylink said it would buy level 3 communications in a cash - and - stock deal with an equity value of about $ 24 billion to expand its fiber optic network and high - speed data services for business clients .
to quantify this, what level 3 wants is to pressure comcast into accepting more than a twofold increase in the amount of traffic level 3 delivers onto comcast' s network - - for free. in other words, level 3 wants to compete with other cdns, but pass all the costs of that business onto comcast and comcast' s customers, instead of level 3 and its customers .
now, level 3 proposes to send traffic to comcast at a 5: 1 ratio over what comcast sends to level 3, so comcast is proposing the same type of commercial solution endorsed by level 3. comcast is meeting with level 3 later this week for that purpose. we are happy to maintain a balanced, no - cost traffic exchange with level 3. however, when one provider exploits this type of relationship by pushing the burden of massive traffic growth onto the other provider and its customers, we believe this is not fair. to use level 3' s own words :
citigroup acted as level 3' s financial adviser and willkie farr & gallagher as its legal adviser .
q2: explain more about the role level 3 and comcast play in connecting consumers to the internet .
according to windstream, after requesting a new review of a billing dispute, level 3 won’t provide additional supporting documentation to back up its claims. additionally, windstream said that level 3 will repeatedly ask the same clarifying questions in similar disputes, and that level 3 continues to withhold payment on resolved disputes .
people knowledgeable about google and yahoo’s infrastructure say they believe that government spies bypassed the big internet companies and hit them at a weak spot — the fiber - optic cables that connect data centers around the world and are owned by companies like verizon communications, the bt group, the vodafone group and level 3 communications. in particular, fingers have been pointed at level 3, the world’s largest so - called internet backbone provider, whose cables are used by google and yahoo .
while level 3 paints an ugly picture of a handful of broadband providers in the us, there may be another side to this story, which might explain the congestion that level 3 sees on its network .
absolutely so. level 3' s competitors in the cdn business send traffic to comcast and other network providers through paid peering (or paid transit) relationships. level 3 wants to compete with those companies ,
in particular, windstream said it has found that level 3 disputes bills more frequently, and that when level 3 evaluates and rejects what it says is a “meritless” billing, the transport provider will delay payment .
yes, peering is a form of interconnection. but let' s be clear: comcast has never suggested it will not interconnect with level 3. in fact, leaving this dispute aside, we have an ongoing interconnection agreement with level 3 that is still in place - - where comcast pays level 3 for some services, like transit to other networks. and as part of that agreement, comcast and level 3 already exchange roughly balanced traffic on a settlement - free peering basis. in fact, to accommodate level 3' s new request and carry some of level 3' s new traffic, comcast gave level 3 six brand new ports - - for free. the only question now is what terms should apply to the tremendous number of additional ports level 3 needs to more than double the traffic it sends onto our network .
level 3 internet services. access the speed, global reach and security needed to deliver internet applications reliably .
take a virtual tour of the level 3 premier elite herndon data center, located in herndon, va .
comcast and level 3 communications announced they have reached a new multi - year, bilateral interconnection agreement as part of a multifaceted arrangement that will help both companies meet their customers’ needs into the next decade and beyond. the new arrangement builds on the strong working relationship between comcast and level 3, and expands on the agreements already in place between the two companies .
level 3 communications, inc. is a fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. the company’s comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; ip - based voice and data communications; wide - area ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud - based solutions. they serve customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries over a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities .
in this picture, level 3 shows the main connections of its backbone network. the orange lines are cable systems that level 3 built and fully owns. and the yellow lines are owned by multiple carriers or leased .
q10: comcast says that it is charging other companies that deliver video content to it for its subscribers. comcast says that it is just treating level 3 the same. why should level 3 get a special deal ?
see our previous answer. the bottom line is that level 3 should not get a special deal: the type of favoritism level 3 is seeking is precisely the type of discriminatory conduct that it is pretending to criticize .
this afternoon, comcast filed the following letter with the federal communications commission (fcc). yesterday, level 3 filed documents that requested the peering dispute between comcast and level 3 become part of the fcc' s consideration of the comcast - nbc universal transaction. our letter describes in detail proposals we made to level 3 to trial and test the new internet architecture they are demanding and why this dispute and the broader questions it raises have nothing do to with the transaction .
comcast has long established and mutually acceptable commercial arrangements with level 3' s content delivery network (cdn) competitors in delivering the same types of traffic to our customers. comcast offered level 3 the same terms it offers to level 3' s cdn competitors for the same traffic. but level 3 is trying to gain an unfair business advantage over its cdn competitors by claiming it' s entitled to be treated differently and trying to force comcast to give level 3 unlimited and highly imbalanced traffic and shift all the cost onto comcast and its customers .
the company continued investments in infrastructure to become a world - class communications provider, and won the trust of the world’s most sophisticated communications companies. in addition to ongoing construction, they expanded their assets with the february 2003 acquisition of genuity. over the next few years, and through a major industry downturn, level 3 pursued a strategy that focused on both the balance sheet and investing for the inevitable industry rebound. level 3 won the confidence of investors, as the company raised more money than all other nexgen carriers combined; and also of customers, who made level 3 one of the world’s top three internet traffic carriers .
level 3 has also settled disputes with at & t and verizon, while cogent struck a deal with verizon .
echoing a similar concern made by fellow telco frontier communications, windstream said in an fcc filing (pdf) that has found level 3 has either been refusing to pay or delaying payment for what it says is millions of dollars in wholesale services. windstream added that it has received a large number of “rate increase notices from level 3 that are inconsistent with the company’s past practices. ”
frost & sullivan recognized level 3 with the 2016 lat. am. enterprise services provider company of the year award 2016
level 3’s cdn can help handle your content needs. leverage our network scalability, global footprint and proven customer service .
jeff storey, the current ceo of level 3, is slated to become the ceo of centurylink in january 2019 .
in a blog post monday, level 3 accused five us internet service providers and one european isp, which it declined to name, of using their market power to attempt to extract service delivery fees from companies such as level 3 .
level 3' s answer: no. when comcast first made its demand for payment of a toll, level 3 clearly communicated its objections. level 3 also made it clear, in written communication to comcast executives, that if comcast persisted in its position, comcast was leaving level 3 no choice but to take steps to assure that the public and policymakers were fully aware of the issue. at the same time, level 3 advised comcast that level 3 was willing to negotiate fair and equitable economic and technical terms to achieve a balanced interconnection arrangement, including offering to use the level 3 fiber optic network to alleviate any potential congestion on comcast' s network. when comcast said that it had limited amounts of equipment needed to provide the requested capacity, level 3 offered to provide comcast with this equipment. rather than engage in an open dialogue, comcast demanded that level 3 execute its service order on a
take it or leave it
basis and said that if the contract was not signed within two days, the capacity would no longer be available .
centurylink, which provides telephone services mainly in rural areas, is offering $ 26. 50 in cash and 1. 4286 of its shares for each level 3 share. level 3 operates mainly in cities on the east and west coasts .
until level 3 fomented this dispute, comcast and level 3 exchanged internet traffic as part of a commercial interconnection agreement, under which comcast paid level 3 for interconnection facilities. although the parties exchanged traffic at a ratio of about 2: 1, with comcast terminating more of level 3' s traffic, this was well within the industry' s established bounds for
roughly balanced
traffic, and they exchanged their on - net traffic on a settlement - free basis .
centurylink and level 3 communications are now a combined company. with an innovative product portfolio, an intense focus on customer experience and a passionate, talented workforce, we offer our employees the opportunity to work on technology, projects and services found only at a leading network solutions provider .
shares in centurylink (nyse: ctl) fell more than 4 percent in friday trading and shares in broomfield - based level 3 (nyse: lvlt) fell about 3 percent .
level 3 cloud connect solutions offer network services, interconnects and operating procedures that make migrating to the cloud efficient and secure .
vodafone carrier services manages the commercial relationships with over 1, 000 communications service providers globally and offers a broad portfolio of voice, network connectivity, and messaging services .
we believe the agreement will benefit level 3’s and comcast’s customers for years to come ,
said jack waters, chief technology officer for level 3 .
our companies share the goal of enabling a growing, secure and resilient interconnection environment .
wherever you are connecting employees, partners or customers across the globe, the level 3 network provides a scalable, flexible network platform for continued growth. discover why enterprise, wholesale, financial, media and gaming companies around the world trust level 3 .
level 3' s answer: level 3 has its roots in providing connections to content and applications providers and in internet backbone services. level 3 also offers high - speed access to larger enterprises. these services are generally provided over fiber optic networks level 3 owns. for a number of years, industry analysts have ranked level 3 as one of the top two global internet backbones in the world. comcast started as a residential cable tv provider and also uses its network to offer local broadband internet access to consumers. more recently, comcast has begun offering local broadband internet access to smaller businesses as well as internet backbone services .
who paid for the delivery of all this on - net traffic, then? the customers. in level 3' s case, this means that cdn customers like netflix would pay level 3, while comcast' s cable modem subscribers would pay comcast. very simple, very clean, and according to level 3 now, this is the way the internet should be connected .
comcast says that it didn' t have the necessary 10 gige ports available to meet' s level 3' s demand, though it managed to dig up
customer
ports it could charge level 3 to use. but level 3 had never been a
customer
of comcast before; the relationship had always been the other way round. now, comcast claimed that, due the traffic imbalance between the two, level 3 had to become both a transit vendor and a paid peering customer .
level 3 cloud security solutions are supported by our extensive visibility into threat data – obtained via our comprehensive network – and experts .
while we are not discussing specifics of the agreement, the deal announced today includes a number of related agreements that deal with both internet interconnection and network infrastructure ,
level 3 told ars .
this new agreement is mutually beneficial and will benefit both level 3 and comcast customers by ensuring there will be ample capacity to exchange traffic between the comcast and level 3 networks .
since level 3 announced its merger with centurylink, windstream has seen level 3 improve some of its billing practices, but it is concerned that the service provider’s adherence to fair and best practices will not continue voluntarily if the fcc approves the deal without conditions .
amidst all the talk of foul play with level 3, little attention has surrounded comcast’s relationship with tata communications, which i consider to be a far more egregious violation of their stated principles on net neutrality. as was the case with level 3, comcast purchases commodity ip transit service from tata, as a means of reaching networks it doesn’t maintain direct peering relationships with. unlike level 3 though, comcast runs its ports to tata at capacity, deliberately, as a means of degrading connectivity to networks which won’t peer with them or pay them money .
seven plaintiffs, including totelcom communications, colorado valley telephone cooperative and santa rosa telephone cooperative, argue that the legality of fees they impose on level 3 — for calls from cellphones to landlines that transmit over long - distance lines, even when they begin and end in the same region — ...
the dispute level 3 has with these six broadband providers is part of an ongoing debate over so - called network peering arrangements. companies like level 3, cogent communications, and netflix, which have brought the issue out in public, argue that more government oversight is needed to ensure big broadband companies are not abusing their power. meanwhile, broadband providers say these disputes are part of an established way of doing business on the internet .
not all sip solutions are created equal. make conversations happen with level 3 voice complete, a sophisticated set of enterprise voice technologies .
our complete portfolio of level 3 enterprise voice services and solutions are delivered by an expansive, end - to - end sip network .
level 3 is in the midst of a proposed acquisition by centurylink —a $ 25 billion cash deal still awaiting approval from the fcc .
but as we and countless industry observers and experts have said since level 3 initiated this dispute last week - - level 3' s bad planning and rash business ventures are no reason to blow up ten years of well - settled traffic exchange practices on the internet .
august gold climbs $ 3. 80, or 0. 3% , to settle at $ 1, 259. 60 / oz
the outage had no major impact on major streaming services that use level 3, including netflix and the hbo go mobile application. but it did affect some customers’ voice and internet services. level 3 suffered another brief outage a month ago, caused by a human error .
level 3 reserves the right to alter format and / or content of the portal at any time for any reason, without prior notification .
in the context of the parties' discussions, comcast engineers made an initial assessment of level 3' s request, outlined some of the required engineering steps, began to think through alternative architectures that might better serve both parties, and did an initial estimate of costs as best they can be understood at this stage. on december 16, after two days of in - person discussions with level 3, comcast presented level 3 with a highly responsive, good faith offer to run a trial that would (1) provide a real world assessment of level 3' s proposal; (2) be fair to both parties and respect level 3' s immediate business concerns; and (3) ensure that network performance and services were not degraded or artificially manipulated .
law360, new york (april 29, 2016, 5: 04 pm edt) - - local telephone providers are suing telecommunications company level 3 communications in texas federal court for withholding fees for some long - distance wireless calls, arguing that a judge' s previous decision in related multidistrict litigation requires those fees to be paid .
atilla tinic is cio for level 3 communications, responsible for the global it organization. tinic joined level 3 in 2014 as part of the tw telecom acquisition and had been with the company since 2004, where he served as senior vice president of it. he has more than 20 years of experience in it architecture, system engineering and data management. previously, tinic held leadership positions with bell canada, bell sygma, saville systems and american management systems (ams) .
level 3’s content delivery network supports some of the world’s largest video, software and web properties with direct connections to major isps and telecommunications companies. deliver large - scale, high - quality content all over the world. think of level 3 as your gateway to the visual internet sm .
level 3 adaptive network security fuses a wide range of advanced network security services with threat intelligence to eliminate weak links in your chain of defense .
need a better way to connect? get audio, video or web conferencing with level 3 ready access, event call and web meeting services .
in fact, even though level 3 is now trying to spin its position differently in the press, the company told us numerous times that what it wants to talk about with comcast (and others in the industry) is something level 3 has dubbed
next generation peering
( which it seems to define as free peering for level 3, regardless of traffic imbalance). level 3' s terminology just confirms that this is a good old - fashioned internet peering dispute, just like the peering disputes level 3 has had in the past, and it can and should be resolved on a commercial basis, just like every other internet peering dispute (of which there have been very few) in the past .
we have a shared vision: to better serve customers and improve lives by connecting people to the power of the digital world. what one company can do well on its own, two can do great together! this combination of centurylink and level 3 communications is a win for our customers, present and future employees, and shareholders alike .
level 3' s answer: no other broadband access provider in the u. s. is now charging level 3 the type of fees that comcast is charging. it is comcast that seeks to change the common approach, changing the rules of the game in an unreasonable and discriminatory manner .
the new arrangement builds on the strong working relationship between comcast and level 3, and expands on the agreements already in place between the two companies .
you need to get the maximum return on your network investments. level 3 works one - on - one with you to make that a reality .
q7: comcast contends that the fees it charges are commonplace and standard and it was surprised by level 3' s resistance. is this correct ?
level 3' s answer is wrong. comcast' s backbone sends as much traffic out as it receives with our peer backbone networks. see urltoken
in a statement sent to the media, nikki wheeler, level 3’s senior director of communications, wrote ,
our technical team is looking into this issue to determine the cause. our priority is to ensure the reliability of our network and services. we will provide updates as more information becomes available. ” a level 3 spokesperson confirmed that the company’s networks had been restored to normal function by 1600 greenwich mean time (noon us eastern time) but said that no other information was available yet .
in the fall of 2011, level 3 and global crossing joined forces. the new integrated network united level 3’s broad, deep u. s. and european footprint with global crossing’s extensive international, intercity network. continuing to operate under the name of level 3, this new kind of company featured more than 500 global markets in north america, emea, latin america and asia, as well as a total of ~ 100, 000 route miles .
what' s ironic given level 3' s accusation against comcast and the current argument it is using against the six unnamed broadband providers it calls out in its blog post is that the company took the opposite stance in a stand - off with cogent in a peering dispute several years ago. in 2005, level 3 threatened to terminate its peering relationship with cogent because cogent was sending too much traffic to level 3 and refused to pay for it .
over the last six months, our operating subsidiary has assessed all of our relationships to determine whether or not settlement - free peering is still appropriate ,
level 3 said in a press release .
we determined that the agreement that we had with cogent was not equitable to level 3 .
in the fall of 2011, level 3 and global crossing joined forces. the new integrated network united level 3’s broad, deep u. s. and european footprint with global crossing’s extensive international, intercity network. continuing to operate under the name of level 3, this new kind of company featured more than 500 global markets in north america, emea, latin america and asia, as well as a total of ~ 100, 000 route miles. ”
shares in level 3 communication inc. fell friday and continued to dip early monday after news that its merger partner is accused of engaging in fraudulent billing .
actually, it' s level 3 that says this dispute is about netflix. they want to make it appear that we are objecting to the type or source of content they carry. we' re telling it like it is: this is about level 3 entering into bad business arrangements, and as a result demanding that we accept huge amounts of traffic from level 3, for free. our position, and our peering standards, are content - agnostic. and the peering standards we' re asking level 3 to live by are the ones that have governed the free and open internet for over a decade .
level 3' s answer: level 3 is not asking the government to regulate the internet. we are simply asking appropriate government bodies to require comcast, in its capacity as a residential broadband internet access provider, to comply with the nondiscriminatory procedures that comcast has historically complied with and is required to follow .
q18: comcast says level 3 surprised it by going public in a last - minute effort solely to obtain commercial leverage over comcast. is that accurate ?
another issue is the rate windstream pays level 3 for backbone transmission and long - haul transport to serve its business customers outside of its traditional wireline footprint .
in long - awaited comments, netflix (nasdaq: nflx) has issued a statement implying that comcast (nasdaq: cmcsa) is trying to squash it by making it difficult - - or more expensive - - for level 3 communications (nasdaq: lvlt) to offload traffic onto comcast networks. the two carriers have been in a vicious peering / traffic management (depending on which side is talking) dispute over what most concede is comcast' s unwillingness to accept heavier loads of netflix traffic flowing over level 3 networks .
post, who has worked at centurylink since 1976, will lead the combined company, while level 3 chief financial officer sunit patel will be chief financial officer .
up to friday' s close, centurylink' s shares had fallen nearly 21 percent this year while level 3' s had slipped 0. 6 percent .
this was a great place to work - lots of benefits and good possibilities for promotion. good leadership and volunteer events. level 3 loved to give back .
in its blog post monday, level 3 said that six broadband providers are deliberately degrading network traffic in an effort to force the company to pay for interconnection .
the debate between the two service providers dates back to november 2010 when level 3 challenged comcast' s request that it had to pay the cable mso a fee to deliver netflix (nasdaq: nflx) movies to its residential customers. netflix is one of level 3' s content delivery network (cdn) customers .
comcast said in its letter that it tried to work out a solution with level 3, which required the company to pay a fee for the necessary network upgrade to handle the additional traffic. but initially level 3 refused, arguing as it does in the current blog post, that its established network peering arrangements should suffice .
san francisco — the recent revelation that the national security agency was able to eavesdrop on the communications of google and yahoo users without breaking into either company’s data centers sounded like something pulled from a robert ludlum spy thriller .
the combination will put centurylink in a better position to compete bigger rivals such as at & t and verizon communications by increasing its fiber network in the united states to 450, 000 miles from about 250, 000 .
cogent communications (nasdaq: ccoi), which also provides internet access services to netflix, has also weathered a number of peering disputes, including two this year with verizon (nyse: vz) and france telecom .
another pair of former opponents has inked an internet interconnection deal. according to a comcast press release, comcast and level 3 communications have reached a “multi - year bilateral interconnection agreement” that is part of a “multifaceted arrangement that will help both companies meet their customers’ needs into the next decade and beyond. ” the companies aren’t saying whether the agreement calls for any money to change hands .
– on this page you will find positions listed from centurylink and level 3. you will be redirected to a new landing page based on which position you click .
meet your new level 3 team. available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. we support expansion to new sites, bandwidth upgrades and equipment management .
people watching this dispute should be asking the questions level 3 posed, but getting clear and truthful answers. in that spirit, we offer the following responses, which have the benefit of sticking to the facts. and to give credit where it' s due, where level 3 has gotten it right, we say so :
disputes between wholesale providers such as level 3 and incumbent telcos and cable operators have become a common occurrence in recent years with growth of over the top video services .
comcast and level 3 communications announced they have reached a new multi - year, bilateral interconnection agreement as part of a multifaceted arrangement that will help both companies meet their customers’ needs into the next decade and beyond. the new arrangement builds on the strong working relationship between comcast and level 3, and expands on the agreements already in place between the two companies ,
the announcement said .
under the terms of the agreement, comcast and level 3 will enhance their existing network capacity while extending their mutual interconnection agreements, ensuring that both maintain ample capacity to exchange internet traffic between their networks. the agreement covers both companies’ existing networks as well as any expansion that may occur during the term of the agreement .
netflix traffic isn' t a problem for level 3 and comcast anymore since netflix last year began paying comcast for a direct network connection to improve video quality. but network operators like level 3 and cogent have threatened to complain to the fcc about internet service providers demanding money for upgrades needed to ensure good quality for other internet services .
fn4. to the extent that petitioner argues that it was improper for supreme court to rely on the voluntary payment doctrine inasmuch as it was not cited by the tax levying bodies as a basis for denying the refund applications, we have previously reviewed and rejected this claim (see matter of level 3 communications, llc v essex county, 129 ad3d 1255, 1257 [ 2015 ]). . fn4. to the extent that petitioner argues that it was improper for supreme court to rely on the voluntary payment doctrine inasmuch as it was not cited by the tax levying bodies as a basis for denying the refund applications, we have previously reviewed and rejected this claim (see matter of level 3 communications, llc v essex county, 129 ad3d 1255, 1257 [ 2015 ]) .
level 3 was originally founded in 1985 as kiewit diversified group inc. (kdg), a wholly - owned subsidiary of peter kiewit sons’, inc. (pks). peter kiewit sons’, inc. is a 114 - year - old construction, mining, information services and communications company headquartered in omaha, neb. kdg was originally created to hold pks’ non - construction business assets .
level 3' s answer: level 3 can' t confirm what arrangements comcast has with other companies. but, as we all learned long ago, two wrongs don' t make a right. level 3 does not seek a special deal, but as in any interconnection between large networks, the terms and conditions of the interconnection must be tailored to the size and scale of the networks exchanging traffic. for example, it would be unfair to comcast for level 3 to interconnect with comcast in only one location, forcing comcast to carry large volumes of traffic around the u. s. for termination to its customers. but it is equally unfair, and far more disconcerting given comcast' s market power over its subscribers, for comcast to demand that level 3 buy service from comcast on terms and at prices dictated solely by comcast .
the service provider said that the fcc should impose a requirement that level 3, and the new company created out of the acquisition, will follow a fair billing process .
prior to this dispute, comcast and level 3 had a longstanding, two - part relationship: they exchanged both free and paid traffic. because level 3 operates an internet backbone, comcast paid the company for true internet
transit
—getting access to all the other networks with which comcast had no direct interconnection. if a comcast customer entered urltoken into her browser, for instance, that request could pass over level 3' s network and would be routed to the bbc' s computers; traffic from the bbc could return on the same path. to make this work, level 3 and comcast had direct port - to - port network connections at various locations in the us .
a network of networks, today, the internet serves as a global data communications system that links millions of private, public, academic and business networks via an international telecommunications backbone that consists of various electronic and optical networking technologies .
senior director, global impact santa clara, ca this position reports to: chief communications officer servicenow is changing the way people work. with a service - orientation toward the activities, tasks and processes that make up ...
level 3 isn' t quite on the level with this answer. level 3 desperately wants to define comcast as mainly an
access
network, but that' s like saying a baseball team is mainly the catcher. comcast operates a nationwide multi - service high speed network with residential, business, and wholesale customers, and its operations include a very robust backbone network. neither level 3 nor comcast serve only end - user
eyeballs .
we have a range of commercial customers who use comcast' s network for transit across the internet, including video content providers, content delivery networks, software companies, web hosters, universities, town offices, local schools, smaller msos, and others. indeed, comcast and level 3 are comparable networks with comparable costs .
beginning with the late - 2005 acquisition of wiltel, level 3 has established itself as a natural industry consolidator. during 2006, the company went on to acquire progress telecom, icg, telcove and looking glass networks. in 2007, level 3 acquired broadwing, the content delivery network (cdn) services business of savvis, inc. and servecast .
level 3 says the providers are slowing down internet traffic to extract payment from it. but a deeper dive into the specifics reveals there may be another side to the story .
broadband providers, which have been in disputes with level 3, cogent, and netflix in the past, say that these conflicts are nothing more than business spats. in a
q9: comcast says that level 3 wants to gain
an unfair advantage over its competitors by gaining enormous additional capacity at no expense to itself .
are they right ?
at that time, level 3' s chief legal officer thomas stortz said that comcast' s requirement to pay a toll every time a subscriber seeks non - comcast content
violates the spirit of the open internet .
comcast' s senior vp - external affairs and public policy counsel joe waz countered in a statement that the cable operator it would have been happy to come to terms with level 3, adding that level 3 is sending five times more traffic over comcast' s network than comcast sends over its network .
windstream is worried that when centurylink completes its acquisition of level 3 later this year, the new company' s billing practices could inhibit windstream' s rural broadband expansion efforts .
these two kinds of traffic (
on - net
and
off - net
) were treated differently, even though they passed over the same interconnection points. comcast paid level 3 for off - net transit traffic, but level 3 and comcast exchanged on - net traffic without charging one another (called
settlement - free peering
) .
peering dispute resolutions broadband providers seem to be taking the threat of possible fcc intervention seriously. since the latest net neutrality order was adopted, various companies that previously were at odds with one another have signed interconnection deals. for example, broadband provider verizon recently reached interconnection agreements with two of its opponents – cogent communications and level 3 – and a cogent executive reportedly said the cogent deal did not involve a monetary exchange .
but broadband providers say this is not a fair arrangement. in its letter to the fcc in november 2010, comcast described the situation it faced with level 3 at the time :
we confess, we find this one hard to follow. level 3 is asking
government bodies
to require comcast to provide level 3 with the right to deliver any traffic it wants, and as much traffic as it wants, to comcast' s network, for free, over the internet (which they defined at the top of their document)... and with a straight face, level 3 says it' s not asking the government to
regulate the internet .
level 3 finds itself coming and going because its arguments make no sense. in contrast, our argument is simple: this is a business dispute between two companies, and comcast, at least, is committed to resolve it .
however, windstream added that it “is concerned that the combined company, which will have greater scale and increased market power, will assume the more problematic practices of level 3. ”
“windstream agrees with frontier that the commission should adopt conditions to ensure that ensure that level 3 and the combined entity cannot engage in unreasonable bill payment practices, ” windstream said. “in addition, the commission should adopt conditions to prevent level 3 and the combined entity from using their market power in the business data services market to engage in extortionate price increases. ”
level 3' s answer: no. it is comcast that wants to change the rules of the game. comcast wants to use its local access network dominance as leverage to force level 3 to pay for traffic requested by comcast customers that already pay comcast for access to that same content. having sold broadband access services to its customers, comcast wants to sell the same service again to level 3 and other networks connected to comcast. if the dispute were simply
commercial ,
the dispute would have already been settled or would never have arisen in the first place. comcast' s status as the nation' s largest provider of consumer broadband service enables comcast to force level 3 to pay the
toll
comcast has demanded.
level 3 communications is an american multinational telecommunications and internet service provider company headquartered in broomfield , colorado . it operates a tier 1 network . the company provides core transport , ip , voice , video , and content delivery for medium-to-large internet carriers in north america , latin america , europe , and selected cities in asia . level 3 is also the largest competitive local exchange carrier ( clec ) and the 3rd largest provider of fiber-optic internet access ( based on coverage ) in the united states . on october 31 , 2016 , centurylink announced an agreement to acquire level 3 communications in a cash and stock transaction . 
level 3 communications is an american multinational telecommunications and internet service provider company headquartered in broomfield, colorado. it operates a tier 1 network. the company provides core transport, ip, voice, video, and content delivery for medium-to-large internet carriers in north america, latin america, europe, and selected cities in asia. level 3 is also the largest competitive local exchange carrier (clec) and the 3rd largest provider of fiber-optic internet access (based on coverage) in the united states. on october 31, 2016, centurylink announced an agreement to acquire level 3 communications in a cash and stock transaction.
level 3 communications is an american multinational telecommunications and internet service provider company headquartered in broomfield, colorado. it operates a tier 1 network. the company provides core transport, ip, voice, video, and content delivery for medium-to-large internet carriers in north america, latin america, europe, and selected cities in asia. level 3 is also the largest competitive local exchange carrier (clec) and the 3rd largest provider of fiber-optic internet access (based on coverage) in the united states. on october 31, 2016, centurylink announced an agreement to acquire level 3 communications in a cash and stock transaction.