performance by putting internet content closer
to its audience, also continue to serve their
Russian customers, with exceptions including
cutting off state-owned companies and firms
under sanctions.
Microsoft, by contrast, hasn’t said whether
it will halt its cloud services in the country,
although it has suspended all new sales of
products and services.
U.S.-based Cogent, which provides a major
“backbone” for internet traffic, has cut direct
connections inside Russia but left open the
pipes through subsidiaries of Russian network
providers at exchanges physically outside the
country. Another major U.S. backbone provider,
Lumen, has done the same.
“We have no desire to cut off Russian
individuals and think that an open internet
is critical to the world,” Cogent CEO Dave
Schaeffer said in an interview. Direct
connections to servers inside Russia, he said,
could potentially “be used for offensive cyber
efforts by the Russian government.”
Schaeffer said the decision didn’t reflect “financial
considerations,” although he acknowledged that
the ruble’s sharp drop, which makes imported
goods and services more expensive in Russia,
could make it difficult to collect customer
payments. Meanwhile, he said, Cogent is
providing Ukrainian customers free service
during the conflict.
Schaeffer said these moves might impair internet
video in Russia but will leave plenty of bandwidth
for smaller files.
Other major backbone providers in Europe and
Asia also continue to serve Russia, a net importer
Image: Matthew Horwood