Here’s something to get the net neutrality movers excited: Level 3 Slashes CDN Prices
Level 3 Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT – message board) is lowering prices for content delivery network (CDN) services to match the same price customers pay for high-speed IP transport…
For now, the lower prices are for caching and downloading only. Level 3 hopes to have its streaming services ready by mid-November. That will allow the company to compete with Akamai, Limelight, and others not just for static and progressive media downloads, but for rich media streaming as well.
Isn’t this an example of a carrier leveraging its position as the handler of packets on the network to disadvantage competitors such as Akamai? The fact that the net result is lower prices to the consumer shouldn’t be lost amidst the irony about disadvantaging companies who sell disadvantage to other companies.
More on this later, but for now let’s not burden the Internet with too many restrictions on pricing and services, OK?