With Comcast and NBC’s immense lobbying firepower, there’s virtually no chance their merger will be denied by regulators and while there will be some conditions, recent history suggests the conditions may only give a quick nod to substantive consumer protections. According to the Wall Street Journal however, these conditions will be “significant” focused largely on preventing Comcast from withholding, or threatening to withhold, NBC Universal’s programming from competitors. The Journal also claims that the FCC is considering imposing some kind of network neutrality requirements on Comcast’s network:

The FCC is looking at all parts of Comcast and NBC Universal’s combined online-video distribution chain for ways Comcast could promote content over its rivals. The agency is considering imposing a “net neutrality” condition on Comcast’s Internet network, banning it from deliberately slowing or blocking legal traffic. FCC staff members are meeting twice a week with commission Chairman Julius Genachowski about the deal and have set an internal deadline of circulating proposed conditions by mid-December, according to a person familiar with the review.

Given the contentiousness of network neutrality and the FCC’s seeming unwillingness to seriously tackle this issue, any neutrality language will likely be very vague and focused on simple transparency if it even survives the final cut at the FCC. According to the Journal, final DOJ approval could come within weeks, though Comcast is apparently kicking back at any proposed conditions that would cover Internet video.

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In a deal that was all but sealed going into the weekend, seems like Yelp’s CEO Jeremy Stoppleman has abandoned that prior deal with Google.

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppleman walked away from the deal this weekend just as it was reaching the later stages of negotiation. TechCrunch speculates that another company may have approached Yelp for a strategic deal that would urge Stoppleman to back away from the Google deal.

Yelp is a website that allows members to review local businesses from local nightlife, shopping centers to restaurants and religious organizations. Users can submit reviews and ratings on their experience for other curious shoppers to see. Yelp is available in The United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, which offers location services to find places near you.

Half a billion dollars… and he walked away. If the “other company” involved can throw around more money, it only leaves Microsoft since Yahoo is still hurting and losing value per day; and current conditions definitely count out AOL Aol.

Let’s see what happens.

[ Related Links: Neowin, TechCrunch ]

Earlier this year we noted how companies like Verizon are very clearly turning away from rural America, creating a new niche for smaller “rural super telcos” to thrive. The merger of CenturyTel and Embarq creates one such company, but Windstream Communications is also picking up speed in this sector as well. Windstream recently acquired NuVox Communications, and was also rumored to be sniffing around the assets of bankrupt Fairpoint Communications. Windstream continues the trend today by announcing they’re acquiring Iowa Telecom (and its 256,000 access lines, 95,000 broadband and 26,000 digital TV customers) for about $1.1 billion. Interestingly, the company has had money for acquisitions, but not for employees: the erosion of landline revenues recently resulted in a 3% workforce reduction.

Link to the original article…

[ Related: Windstream Acquires NuVox ] [ Related: Windstream Upgrades DSL Speed ]

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