Cogent Communications is a multinational

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

based in the United States. Cogent's primary services consist of Internet access and data transport, offered on a fiber optic, IP data-only network, along with colocation in data centers. Although Cogent is not a

Tier 1 ISP A Tier 1 network is an Internet Protocol (IP) network that can reach every other network on the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection (also known as settlement-free peering). Tier 1 networks can exchange traffic with other Tier 1 net ...

by definition, due to lack of complete IPv6 connectivity, the company still advertises itself a Tier 1 ISP. There has been debate among networking professionals as to whether or not this amounts to

false advertising False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...

Acquisition history

Cogent was founded in 1999 at the peak of the industry's growth and was funded by angel investors including members of

Keiretsu Forum Keiretsu Forum, which was founded in 2000 by Randy Williams, is a private group of international members comprising an angel investor network. The network has 53 chapters in cities such as San Francisco California, Seattle Washington, New York C ...

. In three years, Cogent acquired 13 other failing carriers, purchasing $14 billion in capital for $60 million, including $4 billion worth of Property, Plant and Equipment. * September 2001 – Acquires the assets of NetRail * February 2002 – Acquires Allied Riser * April 2002 – Acquires Building Access Agreements from OnSite Access * April 2002 – Acquires Major US Assets of

PSINet PSINet, based in Northern Virginia, was one of the first commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) and was involved in the commercialization of the Internet until the company's bankruptcy in 2001 during the dot-com bubble and acquisition by Coge ...

* September 2002 – Acquires Major Assets of FiberCity Networks * February 2003 – Acquires

Fiber Network Solutions Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

* May 2003 – Acquires Assets of Applied Theory * January 2004 – Acquires LambdaNet France & Spain * March 2004 – Acquires Fiber Network and Equipment in Germany Out of Former Carrier1 Assets * September 2004 – Acquires

Global Access Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

* October 2004 – Acquires Aleron Broadband * December 2004 – Acquires

NTT/Verio Verio is a global web hosting provider headquartered in the United States. Incorporated in 1996 in Denver, Colorado, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Communications, which acquired the company in 2000. Ve ...

Dedicated Access Business in U.S.

Peering disputes

Cogent has been controversial in the ISP market for low bandwidth pricing and its public disputes over

peering In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the "down-stream" users of each network. Peering is settlement-free, also known as "bill-and ...

with

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

(2003), Level 3 Communications (2005), France Telecom (2006),

Limelight Networks Edgio, Inc., formerly Limelight Networks, Inc., is an American company that provides a content delivery network (CDN) service, used for delivery of digital media content and software. As of January 2023, the company's network has more than 300 ...

(2007),

Telia Carrier Arelion, formerly named Telia Carrier and TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC), is a provider of telecommunication services based in Solna, Sweden. Since 2021, the name Twelve99 is also used in technical contexts. Arelion is a tier 1 network ...

(March 2008),The Telia-Cogent Spat Could Ruin the Web For Many
Om Malik, 2008-03-14 and Sprint Nextel (October 2008). On March 14, 2008, after Cogent stopped routing packets from European network provider Telia ( AS 1299), their two networks lost mutual connectivity. The connection was reestablished March 28, 2008 with interconnection points in both the United States and Europe. On June 6, 2011, Cogent automatically stopped peering with The Department of Energy Sciences Network (

ESnet The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is a high-speed computer network serving United States Department of Energy (DOE) scientists and their collaborators worldwide. It is managed by staff at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. More than ...

) causing a disruption for three days. In November 2015, CenturyLink signed a new long-term bilateral interconnection agreement with Cogent Communications. Cogent has yet to agree on peering with the biggest IPv6 connectivity provider,

Hurricane Electric Hurricane Electric is a global Internet service provider offering internet transit, tools, and network applications, as well as data center colocation and hosting services at 2 locations in Fremont, California, where the company is based. Accord ...

. As of November 2022, direct connectivity between the two networks is impossible. Cogent and

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

have also stopped IPv6 peering in 2016. This is rumored to be closely tied to Cogent leveraging Google's IPv4 traffic via a paid customer or to maintain

Settlement-Free Interconnect In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the "down-stream" users of each network. Peering is settlement-free, also known as "bill-and ...

with another network. In February 2017, Cogent blocked many

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and streaming sites including

The Pirate Bay The Pirate Bay (sometimes abbreviated as TPB) is an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, The Pirate Bay allows visitors to search, download, and contribute mag ...

. This was unintentional due to a poorly crafted Spanish court order.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site

Cogent Communications SEC Filings
Internet service providers of the United States Companies based in Washington, D.C. Transit-free networks Companies listed on the Nasdaq