There’s nothing in Comcast and Netflix’s paid peering deal that’s anticompetitive, Technology Policy Institute President Tom Lenard told us Thursday. A day earlier, Consumers Union said it asked the FCC to see if degradation of Netflix quality for Comcast broadband subscribers violated an order’s conditions letting the ISP buy control of NBCUniversal, and asked the Justice Department to see if it violated a consent decree on the NBCU deal (CD Feb 27 p10). There’s nothing in CU’s letters to the agencies that shows the paid peering is anticompetitive or that consumers won’t benefit, said Lenard, an economist who has opposed the FCC net neutrality order. “It would be great if everything was free” as CU suggests, “but unfortunately that’s not the real world,” he said. “I don’t see any evidence that Comcast has more ‘clout’ than Netflix in these negotiations, and Netflix would not have agreed if the company did not think the deal would be beneficial.” The “reality” of the peering deal, which addresses congestion slowing delivery of Netflix to Comcast Internet subscribers, is it “reflects a common market transaction that yields an outcome more efficient and more quickly than any regulatory intervention could have,” wrote Lenard on TPI’s blog Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1eAsiVJ). “When Netflix pays Comcast for transit, the cost is passed through to Netflix subscribers. This is both efficient and fair, because the consumer of Netflix services is paying for the cost of that service."

The Comcast-Netflix paid peering agreement (CD Feb 25 p2) deserves “a hard look” at the FCC and Justice Department, said Consumers Union, which opposes Comcast’s plan to buy Time Warner Cable for about $45 billion, in a Wednesday news release (http://xrl.us/bqn6bt). Comcast broadband subscribers with problems streaming Netflix had sought faster connections from the operator at higher prices, after the operator possibly violated FCC net neutrality rules on ISPs’ transparency about network management practices, wrote CU to the commission (http://xrl.us/bqn6bn) and DOJ (http://xrl.us/bqn6bp). Such traffic “degradation” may have violated the DOJ consent decree and FCC order letting Comcast buy control of NBCUniversal, wrote CU Policy Counsel Delara Derakhshani Tuesday to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Attorney General Eric Holder. The peering deal with Netflix “raises serious concerns about the clout of Comcast,” amid reports Verizon may strike a similar Netflix deal, she wrote. Comcast and Netflix representatives had no comment.

The FCC’s H-block auction was racing to a conclusion Wednesday. Starting Wednesday, the FCC was holding 16 bidding rounds per day. As of round 156, the auction had brought in bids of $1.54 billion and all 176 licenses up for sale had a provisionally winning bidder. Dish Network has committed to bid at least $1.564 billion in the auction (CD Feb 24 p12). Consultant firm Spectrum Financial Partners posted an analysis of bids through round 155 Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1dAIMNZ), saying the top bid was $1.07 MHz/POP in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market followed by Los Angeles at 84 cents per MHz/POP. The lowest bid was in American Samoa at 2 cents per MHz/POP.

Correction: Janet Nickloy’s job title at Harris Corp. is vice president-strategy and business development, national programs (CD Feb 19 p10).

The next FCC open meeting was rescheduled from March 19 to March 31 (http://fcc.us/1ljNKGR). An FCC official said Tuesday the delay gives the agency time to finish items on 5 GHz and the AWS-3 auction. To meet a mandate of the 2012 Spectrum Act, the FCC needs to hold an AWS-3 auction by late this year to license the spectrum by February 2015, the official said. Chairman Tom Wheeler also is expected to circulate an order that could make it harder for TV stations to share some resources with other stations, which the Republican commissioners are expected to oppose (CD Feb 25 p1, Feb 24 p7).

Verizon will play an active role as the FCC considers revised net neutrality rules, said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam Monday during a call with analysts. McAdam was not asked about that topic but delved into it at the end of the call. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said last week the agency would revamp its net neutrality rules due to the Verizon v. FCC decision (CD Jan 16 p1). “Obviously we are pleased with the court’s decision,” McAdam said. “I think any clarity in this area that we get is a good thing and I think the court’s decision helped with that. I know you have all seen Chairman Wheeler announced a notice of proposed rulemaking. We will be obviously heavily involved in that as we go through that process and we think that will provide additional clarity. … Everything from healthcare to telematics to the energy grid need to be balanced with someone who is trying to watch last year’s episode of NCIS. So we are going to be encouraging a very light touch on the Internet to make sure that an investment in innovation continues.” The main focus of the call was Verizon’s wrapping up of its purchase of Vodafone’s 45 percent of Verizon Wireless. “Full ownership of our wireless asset is a major milestone for Verizon,” he said. “From a strategic perspective, it enhances our ability to deliver the integrated data and video services that will change the game for customers and create new growth opportunities for the future. Financially the benefits are straightforward. It is immediately accretive to earnings per share and provides access to all of the wireless cash flows. There is no integration risk because we manage and control this business completely today."

Correction: Mark MacCarthy is the Software & Information Industry Association vice president-public policy (CD Feb 21 p11).

Initial IP transition trial proposals were due Thursday, but as of Friday afternoon, the docket showed only one company that had filed a proposal. Iowa Network Services asked for authority to do a service-based experiment concerning the TDM-to-IP transition for “Centralized Equal Access” service (http://bit.ly/1h6Dpdg). The experiment would help speed technological advances in rural America while “preserving the positive attributes of network services that consumers have come to expect,” the network provider said. Its CEA network aggregates rural traffic, centralizing the provisioning of expensive features and functionalities while bring the “benefits of advanced communications services and competition to rural areas of Iowa,” it said. Iowa Network Services wants to “study the impact on customers and rural communities” as its voice service converts from a CEA network based on time-division multiplex circuit switching to one based on IP technologies, it said. AT&T, which was the first to ask the agency to do deregulatory trials, filed a one-page letter Thursday indicating its proposal would be coming in one week. “AT&T has been working diligently to address each of the criteria outlined in the Order as it prepares to submit its proposal for conducting service-based experiments in a small number of wire centers in its wireline footprint,” it said (http://bit.ly/1p34S3O). “AT&T expects to complete its documentation addressing each of the criteria shortly and it is our intention to file our proposal for your consideration on February 27.” In a statement Friday, Chairman Tom Wheeler put a positive spin on the one proposal that had been received. “Last month the Commission unanimously adopted an Order inviting service providers to propose voluntary experiments designed to assess how the transition to IP impacts network users and initiating targeted experiments. Now, it’s great to see that real experiments are being proposed -- and quickly,” Wheeler said (http://fcc.us/1p38aUK). “We are already beginning to receive expressions of interest from entities that wish to participate in our rural broadband targeted experiments."

Net neutrality could end up as big a distraction for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler as Vietnam was for President Lyndon Johnson, American Enterprise Institute Visiting Fellow Richard Bennett warned in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1e0iJUh). Wheeler has written books about history and should be aware of the parallel, he said. Johnson inherited the war much like Wheeler inherited net neutrality, Bennett said. “He ramped up the troop levels, hit North Vietnam with all the weapons he had, and spiraled ever deeper into a quagmire,” Bennett said. “The Vietnam War is a good example of slipping small step by small step into a conflict from which there is no good outcome instead of decisively stepping away. The net neutrality controversy is taking on the same tone.”

Active bombs dot the Alaskan landscape, and removing those munitions could depend on the FCC figuring out what to do about Adak Eagle Enterprises and its subsidiary Windy City Cellular, the telcos told the FCC Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1ebtcrq). The companies’ interim per-line subsidy ended at the end of January, and they have heard nothing from the agency about “next steps” or “a further extension of interim relief,” they said. “AEE and WCC remain at an operational standstill, with deteriorating assets and a decimated workforce.” Adak Eagle and Windy City had asked for waivers of the FCC’s rule limiting per-month, per-line support to $250. The waiver requests weren’t granted (CD July 17 p14). Now the companies don’t know what to tell customers who ask whether their voice and broadband service will continue to be available, they said. This could have an explosive effect, the companies said: “Adak Island is saturated with active bombs dating back to World War II. As part of the three-year process to clean up these munitions, the next Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team will arrive on Adak Island in April. The EODT will need the broadband and voice services provided by AEE and WCC to support its bomb search, detonation, and removal work on the island,” the companies said. “Without a positive decision from the [Wireless and Wireline] Bureaus, however, the companies will not be able to continue providing these critical services to support the work of the EODT."