# Airtel-Tata Comm routing is cold potato in India?

DevFeed: [Airtel-Tata Comm routing is cold potato in India?](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/airtel-tata-comm-routing-is-cold-potato-in-india-39774.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://anuragbhatia.com/post/2026/05/airtel-tata-comm-routing/>)

Published: 2026-05-20T13:20:53Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Personal blog of Anurag Bhatia](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/personal-blog-of-anurag-bhatia.md>)

Topics: [Routing (disambiguation)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/routing.md>), [networking](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/networking.md>), [BGP](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/bgp.md>)

Tags: [airtel](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/airtel.md>), [arelion](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/arelion.md>), [as1299](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/as1299.md>), [as174](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/as174.md>), [as4755](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/as4755.md>), [as9498](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/as9498.md>), [bgp](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/bgp.md>), [cogent](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cogent.md>), [india](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/india.md>), [routing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/routing.md>), [tata-comm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tata-comm.md>)

## AI overview

An analysis of traceroutes between Airtel (AS9498) and Tata Comm (AS4755) in India suggests their routing tends toward cold-potato behavior. The article explains hot- and cold-potato routing, compares Arelion and Cogent traces, and examines possible interpretations of an Airtel-to-Tata Comm trace.

## Source excerpt

Over the years, I have seen a number of traces between Airtel (AS9498) and Tata Comm (AS4755) in India, which strongly suggests that routing tends to be 'cold potato' between them. By default, routing between large backbones that interconnect across different locations is typically 'hot potato' - meaning traffic exits to other ASNs as close to the source as possible Hot potato routing is common Hot potato routing is quite common across large backbones. Let's analyse this concept by tracing between Arelion AS1299 and Cogent AS174 from their respective looking glasses. Trace Arelion AS1299 (Frankfurt) -> Cogent AS174 (San Francisco) - 66.250.250.146 (ism01.sfo01.atlas.cogentco.com): Router: ffm-b11 / Frankfurt (Equinix FR5, Kleyerstrasse) Command: traceroute ipv4 66.250.250.146 timeout 1 source Loopback0 Tracing the route to 66.250.250.146 1 * * * 2 be7948.ccr42.fra05.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.72.126) 1 msec 1 msec be5484.ccr41.fra05.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.1.1) 1 msec 3 be3343.ccr41.ams03.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.62.142) 9 msec be2950.ccr42.ams03.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.72.41) 9 msec be3343.ccr41.ams03.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.62.142) 9 msec 4 be9036.ccr82.lon05.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.72.185) 104 msec be2182.ccr21.lpl01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.77.246) 104 msec 104 msec 5 port-channel8444.ccr92.lhr01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.72.182) 16 msec port-channel3464.ccr91.lhr01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.75.150) 17 msec 17 msec 6 be8668.ccr31.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.167.29) 99 msec be3501.ccr42.jfk02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.95.101) 101 msec be8668.ccr31.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.167.29) 104 msec 7 be8030.ccr22.alb02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.169.226) 104 msec port-channel2994.ccr92.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.31.233) 99 msec be8029.ccr21.alb02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.169.222) 104 msec 8 be2718.ccr42.ord01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.129) 101 msec port-channel8023.ccr92.cle04.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.169.197) 99 msec 99 msec 9