Customers of the largest U.S. consumer-facing Internet service providers “experienced dramatically poor performance” when connecting to core Internet transit infrastructure, according to a report by the Measurement Lab Consortium. The performance was often “well below" the FCC’s four-year-old "definition of 'broadband,'” said a New America Foundation Open Technology Institute news release about the report Tuesday. “The careful work done by M-Lab researchers exposes patterns of severe Internet performance degradation across the US, and suggests that ISP business relationships are a source of these problems,” said Vint Cerf, M-Lab steering committee member, in the release. “This is the first work of its kind, using open data and reproducible methods to expose complex performance issues at scale.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s comments Monday that a Communications Act Title II approach could deter broadband investment are “evidence-free fears” that “have been refuted several times over,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood in a statement to us. “Imagine how much less fearful he could be simply by examining the facts instead of ISP talking points!” O’Rielly spoke at an NTCA event (see 1410270035).

The deadline for public comments on the current and potential availability of communications services in the Arctic region was extended to Dec. 3, the NTIA said in a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday. Comments had been due by Nov. 3.

As the FCC takes up net neutrality, it should not ban user-directed prioritization, Bob Quinn, senior vice president-federal regulatory, and other AT&T officials told FCC General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and Associate General Counsel Stephanie Weiner on Oct. 22, according to an ex parte filing the company made available to us Monday. To AT&T’s knowledge, no ISP offers or plans to offer paid prioritization for mass-market Internet services, but user-directed service could “offer significant consumer benefits,” such as allowing consumers to choose to prioritize health-monitoring or home alarm devices, the filing said. Communications Act Section 706 offers “ample authority” to deal with any problems posed by non-user-directed paid prioritization, the AT&T officials said.

CenturyLink won't file a petition for reconsideration on the FCC Wireline Bureau’s decision to approve the proposed Level 3/tw telecom deal, a CenturyLink spokeswoman said Monday. CenturyLink had not pushed the FCC to deny the merger, but did urge the agency to impose conditions on the approval, including a requirement Level 3 give CenturyLink and other incumbent local exchange carriers access to the entrance conduit at Level 3’s on-net buildings (see 1410240028). The commission has previously ruled that LECs don't have a reciprocal right to gain access to the facilities of a competitive LEC under the Telecommunications Act’s Section 251(b)(4), the bureau said in an order Friday. Revisiting the determination of reciprocity is better done under a separate proceeding, the bureau said. Level 3 and tw telecom had argued the deal would improve competition because Level 3’s global footprint and tw telecom’s more extensive operations in metropolitan areas would allow it to more effectively compete for customers. “On balance, we find that any potential loss of competition that may occur as a result of the transaction is outweighed by the public interest benefits that will likely result from this increased competition,” the bureau said. The companies' shareholders still need to approve the deal Tuesday, a Level 3 spokeswoman told us. The FCC approval "does not come as a surprise. There is very little overlap between the two networks ... so the deal wasn't expected to raise anti-trust concerns," said Equity Research Senior Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche in a note to investors Monday.

The FCC should issue a notice seeking comment on “alternate approaches” to collecting special access market data instead of its current data collection effort, USTelecom said in an application for review Friday. USTelecom said the commission had ordered a two-year collection effort, but the Office of Management and Budget only approved a one-year effort. The one-year effort creates an “obvious conflict” with the commission’s “determination that a comprehensive review of the special access marketplace required the collection of data covering two years,” USTelecom said. The filing was not yet posted in docket 05-25.

The FCC, as it examines tw telecom's proposed acquisition by Level 3 (see 1409090067), should require Level 3 to stop withholding payments for telecom services, CenturyLink Vice President-Federal Regulatory Affairs Jeffrey Lanning and Senior Associate General Counsel Craig Brown told Wireline Bureau officials Oct. 21, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1sYFsGj) posted Friday in docket 14-104. The combined firm also should be required to provide access to its entrance conduit to on-net buildings at commercially reasonable rates, terms and conditions, the CenturyLink officials said. The deal increases the urgency for the commission to approve CenturyLink's forbearance petition (see 1410070050), said that telco. CenturyLink said it isn’t asking the FCC to deny tw telecom/Level 3. Level 3 was not immediately available for comment.

Under a Title I regime, consumer and business usage of the Internet has tripled over the past five years according to Cisco analysis, USTelecom President Walter McCormick said in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (http://bit.ly/1tRynL9). “Given these growth projections and the success the nation has enjoyed under a Title I environment, we urge the Commission to avoid any proscriptive regulatory policy that would threaten future investment and innovation,” McCormick wrote. “Proponents of extreme measures, such as Title II reclassification of broadband, have not provided evidence to indicate that investment and traffic growth would be better under Title II, or that the entire sector -- edge, content, and broadband -- could be any more vibrant under Title II than it has been under the current longstanding Title I regime.”

There's “no sound reason” to allow LECs receiving Connect America Fund Phase II support to not serve specific locations in unserved areas and instead serve locations in partially served areas, NCTA Vice President-Associate General Counsel Jennifer McKee told FCC Wireline Bureau officials Oct. 17, according to an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1DAN8mL) posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. If the agency allows the flexibility, the burden should be on the LECs to show the specific locations they want to serve in the partially served areas that aren't being served, the American Cable Association said at the same meeting. LECs should also not be excused from serving all areas in an unserved Census block for which they're receiving CAF support, said Ross Lieberman, ACA senior vice president–government affairs, and Kelley Drye’s Thomas Cohen, counsel to ACA. CenturyLink and USTelecom had said they would be willing to support providing faster broadband speeds under CAF if granted the flexibility (see 1409100036).

Dozens of education groups, including local and state boards of educations, urged the FCC to increase E-rate funding, in an Oct. 16 letter (http://bit.ly/1vNh1xX) to commissioners, posted Tuesday in docket 13-184. “A sustainable, well-funded E-rate program is critical to ensuring educational opportunity and success for every student and library patron as we look to bolster the nation’s economic competitiveness,” the letter said. The groups said the “influx of learning devices in classrooms and libraries has increased demands on networks. Yesterday’s connectivity speeds simply do not meet the needs of today’s students and library patrons. Efficient and dynamic classrooms and libraries need high-speed connectivity, and they need additional E-rate support to deliver it. E-rate must possess sufficient resources to ensure that all students and patrons can gain access in schools and libraries to the high speed broadband they need to excel in school and beyond.” The letter was silent on how funding should be increased and whether the agency should expand the USF contribution base.