Will the De-Peering of PSInet Create Chaos?
A new wrinkle in the on-going PSInet bankruptcy saga has been developing over the past week. Cable and Wireless, a major player in the so-called backbone of the Internet, decided to de-peer PSInet. This means that C&W was no longer willing to pick up traffic coming off of PSInet and deliver it through via the C&W network at no charge to PSInet. Since both companies have very large customer bases, this created noticeable outages and routing problems almost immediately.
Today, CNET News.com is running an article that attempts to explain the possible implications of this action. It contains a good summary of the dispute, an explanation of why the de-peering was reversed yesterday, and some analysts' comments on the potential risks to the health of the backbone in the event that Cable and Wireless later decides to follow through on the de-peering.