Comcast Roundup: Cutting internet to the island, Al Franken doesn’t get what he wants 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 has reversed a decision to cut its cable internet to one man on the tiny Massachusetts island of Cattyhunk, who, according to the Vineyard Gazette, had established a system in which he shared a wireless network with much of the island’s population. H/T Philly Tech News
• A U.S. appeals court upheld a FCC rule that forbids cable companies that also own programming channels from keeping those channels from competitors, as reported by the New York Times, a major issue affecting regulatory approval of the Comcast-NBC Universal deal. Comcast won’t appeal the decision, Multichannel News reports.
• Several major cable operators, including Comcast, have put their weight behind a coalition seeking $52 million in federal broadband stimulus dollars, as Light Reading reports.

Below, Sen. Al Franken doesn’t get the promises he asked for, the most expensive real estate deal in Southern California and more.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

• Antitrust dialogue begins with the basic premise that an increase in price after a merger, like the Comcast-NBC deal, is bad, but a blogger with the Christian Science Monitor questions whether that’s the right premise at all.
• The Department of Justice and the FCC outlined at a recent Senate hearing their plans for reviewing the Comcast-NBC deal, as explained by Ars Technica.
• The FCC has made an open call for comment on the Comcast-NBC deal until May 3, Bloomberg News reports. The Washington Post tech blog shares a PDF with more information.
• After the heated Senate hearing in February, in which Sen. Al Franken called for firm promises from Comcast and NBC around free distribution of content, few hard guarantees have been pledged, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
• Comcast and the Internet Systems Consortium have made available open source software that helps others migrate to IPv6, “the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet’s main communications protocol,” Network World reports. H/T PTN

GIVE A GLANCE

• Comcast has finished purchasing Cimco Communications, the regional, Chicago-based telecommunications carrier that will allow the MSO to market more business services, as Light Reading reports.
• The Comcast Entertainment Group has agreed to an estimated $130 million deal to maintain 355,000 square feet of office space used mostly by its E Entertainment Television in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles, as the LA Times reports.
• Comcast spent $3.5 million on lobbying in the 4th quarter on a variety of issues, including the NBC deal, net neutrality and retransmission consent issues, according to the Associated Press.
• Comcast will begin this year rolling out 100-megabit-per-second downstream residential service, twice its fastest Internet tier today, Multichannel News reports.
• Philly Tech News reports on three internal Comcast promotions.

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.