Isn't that's already the case by default? My read of this is that they're paying Comcast directly because it's cheaper than the conventional route of paying for

Isn't that's already the case by default? My read of this is that they're paying Comcast directly because it's cheaper than the conventional route of paying for commodity transit via a regular ISP (though more expensive than their preferred solution, a no-fee peering arrangement). As a new entrant I don't have much choice but to pay for commodity transit: Comcast is not going to peer directly with me anyway (or let me park my CDN boxes on their network, for that matter), so I need to pay the transit ISP. If I do so, am I at any disadvantage? Afaict, if I'm a new entrant who sets up colocation at he.net, say, and pay he.net for transit, I won't have any trouble getting my data to Comcast users.