The real difference between a 'traditional' ISP and a Level3/Cogent/HE.net/etc is the market space they operate in. Nothing really prevents "Comcast" from actin

The real difference between a 'traditional' ISP and a Level3/Cogent/HE.net/etc is the market space they operate in. Nothing really prevents "Comcast" from acting like "HE" except its not a market they are interested in. HE.net sells to businesses and provides wholesale bandwidth over fiber its purchased and/or leased routes. Traditional ISPs sell to the general public and provide last mile connectivity. They then hook up to Level3/Cogent/HE.Net/etc to provide access to the rest of the internet For example, Comcast doesn't have any international PoPs. http://business.comcast.com/about-us/our-network http://business.comcast.com/about-us/our-network vs. http://he.net/HurricaneElectricNetworkMap.pdf http://he.net/HurricaneElectricNetworkMap.pdf