Netflix and Zayo Group colocation subsidiary zColo will be the primary infrastructure sponsors of the Florida Internet Exchange (FL-IX), zColo said. Akamai, CloudFlare and Host.net are FL-IX’s other initial member participants. FL-IX will be a member-managed peering platform serving the southeastern U.S. and several Latin American markets, and will be based out of zColo’s Miami data center. Netflix’s participation in FL-IX “reflects our commitment to the Open IX model and providing greater optionality for exchanging traffic,” said Dave Temkin, Netflix director-network architecture and strategy, in a Zayo news release Tuesday. “The Miami market needs more connectivity alternatives to NAP of the Americas and we anticipate FL-IX will be well received by many major content and network providers.” Netflix will provide switching equipment and related technology to run FL-IX, while zColo will house FL-IX and will provide power and underlying network connectivity (http://bit.ly/1vwror3).

Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) gave final approval Wednesday to Frontier Communications’ $2 billion purchase of AT&T’s broadband, video and wireline assets in the state (http://bit.ly/1sJgNXg). PURA’s final decision on Frontier/AT&T Connecticut almost completely tracked with a draft decision released Sept. 30 1410010024, which had prompted limited concerns from other parties in the proceeding 1410090003. PURA said it wouldn’t revise its decision to reflect concerns that Connecticut Light and Power raised, but did formally adopt a separate settlement between Frontier and the Connecticut divisions of Cablevision, Charter Communications, Cox Communications and MetroCast Communications as part of PURA’s decision. PURA's review was the only remaining regulatory barrier for the deal, which Frontier said Wednesday is now set to close on Oct. 24. About 2,600 AT&T employees in Connecticut will become Frontier employees at the deal’s completion, Frontier said. Communications Workers of America Local 1298, which supported Frontier/AT&T Connecticut, shares “Frontier's goal of putting the customer first,” said CWA Local 1298 President Bill Henderson in a Frontier news release. “We look forward to introducing residential and business customers to Frontier's local engagement plan and great customer service” (http://bit.ly/1qw6ilR).

The California Public Utilities Commission will pause its review of Comcast’s proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable “until further ruling,” said Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge Dorothy Duda Thursday. Duda said she’s suspending the review because of the FCC Oct. 3 decision to temporarily pause its own review of Comcast/TWC (CD Oct 7 p5), which “makes delay in the proceedings here at the CPUC reasonable.” The delay in CPUC review won’t change the Oct. 1 cutoff on new discovery requests, but opening briefs in the case are no longer due Oct. 20, Duda said. Administrative Law Judge Jean Vieth plans a hearing Thursday at the CPUC’s San Francisco courtroom to determine further action in the case. The hearing is to begin at 10 a.m. The Office of Ratepayer Advocates will need to demonstrate at the hearing why it’s seeking additional data in its discovery requests and its relevance to the scope of the review CPUC is undertaking, Duda said. Industry observers have said CPUC is likely to conduct a thorough review of the deal (CD Aug 18 p1).

Tw telecom expanded its Minneapolis area footprint into St. Paul, the western suburbs, the northern metropolitan areas, and through Washington County, it said. The expansion will connect tw telecom services directly to data center customers in the western suburbs, tw telecom said Thursday in a news release (http://bit.ly/ZullFq). The move is driven by increased demand for flexible and robust networking solutions by businesses entering the state “as well as those existing businesses ... looking to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace,” it said. The company continues in its effort to expand its metro fiber footprint across the U.S., it said.

California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey said he won’t seek reappointment to the commission when his current term expires in December. Peevey, who has led the CPUC since 2002, said in a Thursday statement that 12 years “as president is enough” (http://bit.ly/1v8hpYQ). Peevey has faced criticism recently over claims his office communicated with Pacific Gas and Electric via back channels, but he didn’t address those criticisms Thursday.

A Frontier Communications spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the Department of Commerce is investigating the telco’s use of $42 million in Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funds earmarked to build a fiber network in West Virginia. The West Virginia Gazette had reported that Commerce was investigating whether Frontier had falsified invoices and whether state officials had deliberately ignored problems. The state government reduced the project’s size from 915 miles of fiber to 675 miles, but Frontier still received the full $42 million in BTOP funds. Frontier has “cooperated with requests for information, including third-party audits of the BTOP project,” and “provided full reviews and complete reports about the build throughout the grant process,” a spokesman said. Frontier also addressed all of the issues raised in recent media reports and “will respond to each and every question that officials ask and provide them all of the information they seek,” he said. A spokeswoman for West Virginia Chief Technology Officer Gale Given confirmed that the state Office of Technology is gathering information that Commerce requested and will submit it by an Oct. 17 deadline. A spokesman for Commerce Inspector General Todd Zinser said it was the department’s policy to “neither confirm nor deny investigations."

Connecticut Light and Power acknowledged in a filing Tuesday that the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) declined to include CL&P’s requested conditions in its draft decision approving Frontier Communications’ proposed purchase of AT&T’s broadband, video and wireline assets in the state (http://bit.ly/1vQMfUC). CL&P had asked PURA to require AT&T to pay $9.25 million in storm damage cleanup costs before the deal was completed. PURA said it didn’t have statutory authority to interpret CL&P’s dispute with AT&T as part of its Frontier/AT&T Connecticut review and suggested CL&P pursue the issue in court or via another state agency (CD Oct 1 p13 ). CL&P said it sued AT&T subsidiary LEC Southern New England Telephone Co. (SNET) in Connecticut Superior Court to pursue cost recovery. CL&P urged PURA to clarify in its final decision in Frontier/AT&T Connecticut that the commission has authority in future proceedings to exercise jurisdiction over disputes between CL&P and SNET, whose assets Frontier will own after the AT&T deal. CL&P also asked PURA to formalize three of Frontier’s voluntary commitments on SNET’s joint pole line agreement with CL&P. PURA didn’t incorporate suggested conditions from the Connecticut Internet Service Providers Association, but CTISPA as expected (CD Oct 6 p4) didn’t file exceptions to the draft decision. Connecticut divisions of Cablevision, Charter Communications, Cox Communications and MetroCast Communications said in a joint filing that they want PURA to formally incorporate their separate settlement with Frontier into the PURA decision. The cable companies’ settlement resolved issues on interconnection, local number portability, tandem transit service and reciprocal compensation rates. PURA’s draft decision acknowledged the cable companies’ settlement but didn’t formally incorporate it into the commission decision, the cable companies said (http://bit.ly/1CVbLu2). CL&P and the cable companies said they weren’t requesting oral argument over their exceptions, but reserved the right to request them later if other parties sought oral arguments. Other parties, including Frontier and AT&T (http://bit.ly/1oR3I9h), said they had no objections to the draft decision and urged PURA to formally approve the deal.

Time Warner Cable said all of its customers in the Austin metropolitan area have access to its gigabit TWC Maxx service following months of network upgrades. TWC said it’s also continuing upgrades in New York and Los Angeles, the two other current target cities for the TWC Maxx services. An additional seven markets are set to launch in 2015, TWC said. The TWC Maxx also includes a larger on-demand library, all-digital lineup and a more advanced set-top box, the company said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1s7BITG).

A CityNet dispute with Frontier Communications in West Virginia over Frontier’s business practices will go before an administrative law judge Jan. 27, the West Virginia Public Service Commission said Monday (http://bit.ly/1xXoBYM). CityNet had asked the PSC to investigate its claim that Frontier was impeding competition by not leasing unused portions of its fiber infrastructure in the state to competitors. The PSC referred the case last week to an administrative law judge, saying CityNet’s claims didn’t warrant a general commission investigation because the issue “is not a general issue affecting public utilities.” The PSC also suggested CityNet and Frontier use mediation to settle the dispute before it goes before an administrative law judge (http://bit.ly/1s4q1yp). The PSC set an Oct. 15 deadline for CityNet and Frontier to submit any mediation requests. If the parties choose not to pursue mediation, the dispute will go before an administrative law judge at 9 a.m. Jan. 27 at the PSC’s Charleston headquarters. The PSC is seeking a ruling in the case by April 3. Both CityNet and Frontier said the PSC’s decision was a positive development.

Metronet said it’s launching gigabit Internet service in 19 communities in central Indiana. The service is now available to Metronet’s residential customers within the city limits of all 19 communities: Connersville, Crawfordsville, Franklin, Greencastle, Huntington, Lafontaine, Lebanon, Madison, New Castle, North Manchester, North Vernon, Seymour, Vincennes, Wabash, Whiteland/New Whiteland, West Lafayette/Lafayette and Ulen. Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann (R) praised Metronet in a news release for launching gigabit service, saying “broadband connectivity is a critical issue facing many small towns and rural communities in our state.” Metronet said Thursday it also quadrupled Internet speeds for residential customers who subscribe to triple-play bundles (http://mwne.ws/1rATCz6).