Lumen Says It’ll Exit Russia—but Will it REALLY?
Lumen Technologies said it’s pulling out of Russia. Formerly known as CenturyLink, the company followed on the heels of its competitor, Cogent Communications.
But this one is a bigger deal, because Lumen is the #1 transit provider to Russia—in part because it acquired Level 3 in 2017. Cutting this cord will have major ramifications to the Russian internet.
Except that’s not exactly what Lumen said it’s doing. In today’s SB Blogwatch, we read the PR spin carefully.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Fly Around.
Follow the Money
What’s the craic? Brian Krebs reports—“Internet Backbone Giant Lumen Shuns [Russia]”:
“Autocratic and kleptocratic leaders”
Monroe, La. based Lumen [which] operates one of the largest Internet backbones and carries a significant percentage of the world’s Internet traffic … will stop routing traffic for organizations based in Russia … just days after a similar exit by backbone provider Cogent. … Lumen is the top international transit provider to Russia.
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Isolating Russia from the rest of the Internet might be the thing that encourages more Russians to protest the war in Ukraine, and ultimately to take back control of their own country from its autocratic and kleptocratic leaders. Not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, I heard from an old pen-pal in Ukraine: Sergey Vovnenko, a.k.a. “Flycracker,” … the convicted Ukrainian cybercriminal who once executed a plot to have me framed. … Asked what he thought about the idea of Russia being isolated from the rest of the Internet, Vovnenko said it couldn’t happen soon enough: … “I think they should be disconnected, maybe Russian people will rebel against Putin after that.”
So Simon Sharwood says, “Lumen quits Russia”:
“Further isolates Russia”
The internet backbone provider formerly known as CenturyLink, has quit Russia. [But] the biz announcement … does not take a position on the morality of the illegal invasion of Ukraine [unlike] Cogent, which made opposition to the invasion its main reason for cutting off Russian customers.
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The company also serves some customers in Ukraine. … While Lumen’s rationale for leaving Russia lacks the ideological aspect behind others’ similar decisions, it further isolates Russia from the global community – and therefore also from sources of information that might allow citizens to gain a perspective on the invasion that the now-state-controlled Russian media will not share.
Follow the money? Frank Burly clearly has:
I wonder how much of the divestment is due to Russia’s international aggression and how much is Russians’ (in)ability to pay.
But would it work? Bert64 doesn’t sound hopeful:
The Russian people aren’t going to be told, “Western companies are refusing to provide services because we invaded Ukraine.” … The Russian people will be told, “The West is controlled by Nazis who are hell bent on destroying Russia and exterminating the Russian people—shutting down services is just the first part of their plan.”
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It will only serve to increase support for Putin.
Conversely, Barrin92 has a longer perspective:
There’s no reason to instinctively flinch every time someone in the Kremlin or in Beijing throws a tantrum. Leadership in China and Russia responds to strength.
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What do you think the logic of the Cold War was? It was exactly this. Economic isolation and forcing them into a military arms race worked once.
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If China wants to pay the bill for Russia’s adventures they’re free to do so, but from their ambivalent reaction it’s pretty obvious that they’re not too keen. … The West is 50% of the world’s economy, Russia 2%. China knows this.
Who can bring this down to Earth? Kernel Kurtz can:
You should imagine how Ukrainians feel. Losing your internet and your credit card still beats the **** out of a missile into your dwelling any day. I wish there was a way to make Russians feel what Ukrainians feel, but for now they will just have to do without their cat videos.
Hold up—wait a minute—somethin’ ain’t right. Let’s carefully read Lumen’s PR announcement—“Lumen’s Readiness to Meet Global Events”:
“Stopping our limited operations in Russia”
Lumen is unable to continue to operate in [Russia]. The business services we provide are extremely small and very limited as is our physical presence. However, we are taking steps to immediately stop business in the region.
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We are immediately stopping our limited operations in Russia. … For the extremely small number of enterprise customers we have, this means we will no longer provide local Lumen services.
So which is it? The top international transit provider to Russia, or limited operations with an extremely small number of customers? W.S.Gosset cuts to the chase:
Cogent expressed itself more cogently. In related news, Weasel Corp said nothing.
Hilarious. Doug Madory buries the lede, thuswise—“Lumen’s announcement”:
Lumen is already the top international transit provider to Russia boasting Rostelecom, TTK, as well as all three major mobile operators (MTS, Megafon and VEON) as customers. While they may not take on any new customers in Russia, they may be carrying more traffic with the loss of Cogent as a transit alternative.
And in a follow-up tweet, he agrees with me about the possible PR spin:
Yes, Lumen’s statement seems contradictory. They are one of the top transit providers for the major RU telecoms but this is done from outside of RU. If they are just closing a small RU office, then it isn’t a big deal.
Thus far, we have seen no changes in how [AS]3356 (Lumen) provides service into RU. If that stays the same, I’m not sure how that squares with, “We are taking steps to immediately stop business in the region.”
Frankly, I don’t think the statement was at all “contradictory”—I just don’t think it says what people are assuming it says. Accident or design? You decide. Your humble blogwatcher is perplexed as to why mainstream media jumped to the conclusion that Lumen was cutting off transit, when it actually said it’s only stopping servicing a few enterprise customers.
We asked Lumen’s fragrant and efficient PR team to clarify, but no reply was forthcoming by the end of the business day. We will, of course, update this story if we hear anything substantive.
Meanwhile, llaryllama llaughs it up:
They’re not sanctions, they’re “Special Economic Actions.”
And Finally:
Bill Wurtz emerges from hibernation
You have been reading SB Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites … so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi or [email protected]. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. E&OE. 30.
Image sauce: Compare Fibre (via Unsplash; leveled and cropped)
