Snarfs - Nah, my rant was free-form... that's just how I type ;)
ProgGod - I'm not suggesting that hosting companies selling Tier 1 bandwidth can't sell for discount prices. I do all the things you do to achieve my lower cost structure. Pricing to the hosting customer is just another business decision. High price for low volume, low price for high volume.
Rage - Cogent IS backed by Cisco, you're right. However, you should follow my logic. Cisco backs Cogent so they can sell more hardware and grow the marketplace. There is currently a huge surplus of bandwidth. By in large, the hosting marketplace is a shrinking and consolidating one. At the most, you have some customers moving from other providers to Cogent. Look at Cisco's stock prices... If customers are merely moving around, there's a zero net gain for Cisco in hardware sales. Besides, what the hell are the chances that these Cogent resellers are purchasing ANY Cisco gear?
At the end of the day Cogent needs to be able to make money on it's own without capital infusions. We've all seen that the marketplace of investors has changed since the bottom fell out of the stock market. People expect companies to make money now. Ultimately, if Cogent can't deliver to investors they'll have to close their doors. Their business model is weak - did you know that several similar companies like Cogent have already gone out of business?
Brad