Comcast Roundup: Ed Rendell urges NBC deal approval, Level 3 parries back and More

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast and NBC [New York Times editorial] — Urging regulators to not feel rushed in approving the Comcast-NBC merger.
• As Comcast-NBC try to tie up merger, news editorials differ on consequences [Post Tech: Washington Post] — An October Washington Post editorial “said that many of the same critiques of the Comcast-NBCU deal were voiced in 2001 by hand-wringers nervous about the AOL-Time Warner merger – worries that came to naught.”
• Comcast merger helps consumers [Politico editorial by Ed Rendell] — Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell responds to an editorial from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders criticizing the NBC deal.
• Level 3: Comcast Charging For Local Access, Not Peering [Multichannel News] — Colorado online distribution company Level 3 lobs back more detailed criticism of Comcast, after last week’s blow up. Comcast quickly denounced the update as, well, as not being an update.

Hulu and Earthlink give more details on their perspective on the NBC deal, extension of the partnership and more.

MIGHT BE OF INTEREST

• 20 Q’s – with Accurate A’s – About Level 3’s Peering Dispute [Comcast blog]
• Q&A: Earthlink’s take on Comcast-NBC merger, broadband prices could go up [Post Tech: Washington Post] — They ain’t down with it or the competition that comes with it.
• Comcast/NBCU Extend Joint-Venture Agreement For 90 Days [Multichannel News] — “Parties Held Options To Nix Deal, Unless Both Agreed To Longer Span For Government Approvals”
• Reps. Waxman, Markey urge strict conditions on Comcast-NBCU merger [Post Tech: Washington Post] — “Key Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday urged the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to impose tough conditions”
• Hulu CEO visits FCC to discuss Comcast-NBC merger [Post Tech: Washington Post] — No actual details on what Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said are shared.

WORTH NOTING

• Comcast customers hit by another major outage [CNET] — “Comcast customers in Illinois and three other nearby states lost their Internet access last night, apparently due to the same problem that took down service for East Coast customers just a week ago.” H/T PTN
• Comcast rejiggers field operations [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Some more details on the announcement shared last week.
• Comcast Xfinity App Launches for Android, Control Your DVR Remotely and More [Phandroid]
• Digital Society Weighs in on Netflix, Comcast and Level 3 [Comcast blog] Watch the video below the company shared.

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When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST