Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Cogent Communications have jointly announced that they've reached an interconnection deal.
"Cogent Communications and Time Warner Cable Inc. have entered into a long-term, bilateral interconnection agreement for their public IP networks. This agreement allows the exchange of Internet traffic in a scalable and reliable manner to accommodate the growing use of the Internet," the joint statement read.
The deal comes after Cogent said earlier this month that it had struck interconnection pacts with AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ), and that a similar deal with CenturyLink (NASDAQ: CHTR) is close at, as well.
The company said that the threat of litigation under the FCC's new net neutrality regulations is fostering a climate of easier dealmaking.
"The adoption of the Open Internet order and Title II jurisdictional authority were mirrored in the EU and on June 30 the European Commission adopted a set of regulations that were passed by the parliament and the council. As a result of that we have seen significant port augmentations," said Dave Schaeffer, CEO of Cogent, speaking to investors on Oct. 1 during the Deutsche Bank 23rd Annual Leveraged Finance Conference.
"We believe we will get deals done based on the threat of litigation under the current regulatory rules," Schaeffer added.
Further pushing the issue is Charter Communications' (NASDAQ: CHTR) efforts to purchase both TWC and Bright House Networks. Charter has told federal regulators that it will offer "settlement-free" interconnection as part of its attempts to convince regulators to bless the deal; the FCC is still evaluating the transaction. Notably, Cogent has spoken out in favor of the Charter/TWC deal.
Charter executives have said they continue to expect to close the company's purchase of TWC and Bright House by the end of this year.
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