Paid Internet peering agreements are on the rise, a trend Internet experts told us reflects evolving business models used to deliver content to end-users. Some said disputes over peering connections have become more common and more contentious. The recent Verizon-Cogent disagreement over a deal (CD June 21 p1) is just the latest example of an Internet system still coming to grips with a deluge of over-the-top content that could make traditional peering arrangements untenable, said those we surveyed last week. As disputes become more prevalent and the threat of an Internet slowdown looms, some wonder whether government regulation might have a place as a final backstop to keep the data flowing.

FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn circulated an NPRM Friday, teed up for a vote at the commission’s July 19 meeting, examining a further overhaul of the USF E-rate program. The NPRM also comes in the wake of a June 6 speech by President Barack Obama urging the commission to make high-speed Internet available to enough schools and libraries to connect 99 percent of American students (CD June 7 p7).

The FCC won’t take up the Bloomberg/Comcast channel placement dispute anytime soon, despite a plea last week (CD June 27 p16) from the financial news channel for the agency to act on the two-plus-year-old matter, several cable industry attorneys told us in interviews. With the recent Tennis Channel program carriage dispute decision against the FCC from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (CD May 29 p1) and a new chairman unlikely to take office right away, the attorneys said the current commission probably won’t quickly resolve the issue. The dispute revolves around conditions of the Comcast/NBCUniversal deal and the placement of the Bloomberg TV network in the same neighborhood as other news networks owned by Comcast.

More than ten million Americans benefited from telemedicine last year, said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel at a Friday conference hosted by the American Telemedicine Association. CTIA and Time Warner Cable held a panel discussion on how wireless and wireline technologies are helping to advance telemedicine platforms to rural and urban areas.

The California Public Utilities Commission, despite its president’s urging, voted to oppose a major piece of telecom legislation moving through the Legislature. Commissioners voted 4-1 to oppose Assembly Bill 1407, without suggesting any amendments. The bill proposes to expand the California LifeLine program to wireless and alternative providers of interconnected VoIP. But several commissioners argued the bill would scrap extensive CPUC efforts as well as hurt the California subsidy program. CPUC staff, in a memo posted earlier last week, had advocated opposing the bill (CD June 26 p15)

As the updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule takes effect Monday, operators of child-directed websites and apps are navigating the expansions in the rule, industry members and observers told us. The expansions in the rule -- unveiled by the FTC late last year (CD Dec 20 p10) -- include defining personal information to include device identifiers and the inclusion of sites and apps that are largely but not primarily directed to children. Such expansions require apps and websites to do substantial backend work and may cause revenue losses, said industry officials.

The order (http://fcc.us/1aRpmpa) makes several changes to Form 477 that the agency says will “streamline” reporting, reducing the burden on carriers and ISPs. It eliminates the requirement to file speed data in tiers; collects mobile coverage information using a standard geographic information system software format; and seeks mobile broadband deployment data by technology, minimum advertised speed, and spectrum band. As expected (CD June 7 p16) the order creates a uniform format for the collection of broadband deployment data, replacing the current separate state-by-state collections under different methodologies.

The FCC approved a declaratory ruling Thursday requiring carriers to safeguard most of the customer proprietary network information (CPNI) on mobile phones. Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai had considered a dissent, but managed to work through differences with acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and was able to vote for the order, with a concurrence. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel also voted to adopt the order, but by getting Pai onboard, Clyburn avoided a dissent during her first meeting as acting chair.

The FCC approved by a 3-0 vote Thursday a report and order moving the FCC toward an auction of H-block spectrum, 10 MHz of already cleared paired spectrum at 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz. The H-block auction is expected to be the first in which the federal government will collect money to pay the $7 billion costs of launching FirstNet, the national wireless network for public safety. The money must come from auction proceeds, though not necessarily the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum.

The top Republicans and Democrats of the House Commerce Committee plan to convene monthly meetings with spectrum officials from the FCC, NTIA and DOD to encourage the agencies to quickly target federal spectrum that can be reallocated or shared for commercial wireless use. House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said Thursday that he and Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., are “both concerned we are not making progress fast enough,” during a subcommittee hearing with public and private sector spectrum stakeholders.