Netflix offered its support of the conditions placed on the now-approved merger of Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, which prevents New Charter from applying broadband caps and interconnection fees.

"Charter’s commitment to an open Internet without interconnection fees or data caps will foster innovation and promote the efficient scaling of the Internet,” Netflix said, in a statement issued Friday. “In applying this policy as a condition across the “New Charter” footprint, the FCC has made sure the merger will support growing consumer demand for all streaming video services."

Netflix, which had railed against the now-scuttled proposed marriage of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, volunteered its support for the Charter-TWC deal in July, when Charter pledged to extend its “settlement-free’ interconnection policy to the systems it would be acquiring from TWC and Bright House Communications. Netflix reluctantly entered paid interconnection deals with Comcast, TWC, AT&T and Verizon Communications (Bright House has been benefiting from the TWC-Netflix agreement), arguing that they violate network neutrality rules.

The conditions on the Charter-TWC deal, which will be in place for seven years, prohibit the combined company from using data caps or usage-based pricing for broadband, and from striking paid, interconnection fees, as well as from anticompetitive programming contracts that would put online video distributors (OVDs) at a disadvantage.  Per those conditions, New Charter must also adhere to the FCC's Open Internet rules no matter what the court decides.

Cablevision Systems, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications all say they will cooperate with New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman as he opens a probe into whether they are providing the speeds for which subscribers are paying.

The investigation’s focus will include interconnection arrangements between ISPs and content providers such as Netflix, according to Reuters. Per a copy of a letter, posted by Ars Technica, ISps are also being asked identify, since January 2, 2013, when an interconnection partner requested augmentation of interconnection capacity that the ISP did not implement within ninety days, and to explain why capacity was not augmented. 

Among the three ISPs that received letters, Verizon and Time Warner Cable have paid interconnection deals with Netflix; Cablevision is a partner in Open Connect, Netflix’s private CDN program that relies on single-purpose edge caches. The FCC's new network neutrality rules allow for a case-by-case complaint process with respect to interconnection issues.

Reuters said each ISP has been requested to provide disclosures made to customers with respect to broadband service and to provide data on any speed tests they’ve conducted.The letter also asks for documentation on last-mile broadband speeds, divided by classes of customers and to provide data on the speeds experienced during various times of day. 

The ISPs said they will comply with the requests, which are seeking written reponses, along with supported documentation, by November 8, 2015.

"We're confident that we provide our customers the speeds and services we promise them and look forward to working with the AG to resolve this matter," Time Warner Cable spokesman Bobby Amirshahi said, according to the report.

“Verizon is confident in the robust and reliable Internet speeds it delivers to subscribers,” a Verizon spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We look forward to working cooperatively with the Attorney General’s office.”

“Optimum Online consistently surpasses advertised broadband speeds, including in FCC and internal tests,” a Cablevision spokesperson said. “We are happy to provide any necessary performance information to the Attorney General as we do to our customers.”

Recent FCC data seems to amplify why the providers are expressing such confidence.

In June, the FCC’s fourth Measuring Broadband America report, based on nationwide tests of fixed broadband speeds, found that, on average, that the ISPs sampled were delivering 101% of advertised download speeds, compared to 97% in 2013, but allowed that some ISPs had “significant room for improvement” with respect to the consistency of the speeds delivered.

Bright House Networks and Time  Warner Cable were the big gainers in Netflix’s ISP Speed Index for August, while Cox Communications maintained its overall lead among major broadband service providers.

Bright House rose two spots, to No. 4 on the list, with an average speed of 3.57 Mbps in August, up from 3.42 Mbps in the prior month. TWC jumped three spots, putting it just behind Bright House, with an average of 3.53 Mbps, up from 3.37 Mbps in July.

TWC has a paid interconnection deal with Netflix. Bright House is currently benefiting from that agreement.

Among other movers, Verizon FiOS swapped spots with  Cablevision Systems, to take the No. 2 slot on the list. Charter dropped two spots (to No. 6), as did Comcast (to No. 7)

With smaller ISPs factored in, Grande Communications and Google Fiber tied for August with an average Netflix streaming speed of 3.80 Mbps, followed by Midcontinent Communications (3.74 Mbps), EPB (3.73 Mbps), RCN (3.71 Mbps), and WideOpenWest (3.7 Mbps).

Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon also have paid interconnection deals with Netflix. Several US ISPs, including Cox, RCN, WOW, Cablevision and Suddenlink, are also members of Open Connect, Netflix’s private content delivery network that relies on edge caches.

Cox Communications hopped to the top of Netflix’s ISP Speed Index among top U.S. ISPs for the month of June, while Verizon FiOS dropped two spots, good for the No. 3 position.

That was the highlight amid some jockeying among the nation’s top ISPs, at least when viewed through Netflix’s lens, which calculates its rankings by measuring performance of Netflix streams during prime time hours.

Those rankings, particularly at the top, don’t represent a huge difference in terms of average Netflix streaming speeds. But they do provide ISPs with bragging rights, considering that Netflix represents more than one-third U.S. Internet traffic on fixed networks, according to Sandvine.

Cox, with an average of 3.58 Mbps, rose two spots to claim the top slot, edging out Cablevision Systems (3.57 Mbps), Verizon FiOS (3.43 Mbps), Comcast (3.39 Mbps), and Suddenlink Communications (3.37 Mbps), which rose three spots. Time Warner Cable dropped two spots, to No. 9, with an average of 3.19 Mbps.

Cox, Cablevision Systems and Suddenlink are among the known members of Open Connect, Netflix’s private content delivery network that uses single-purpose edge caches. Netflix has also signed paid interconnection deals with Comcast, TWC, Verizon and AT&T (Bright House is benefiting from the TWC-Netflix agreement).

Clearwire, the only wireless ISP represented on that list, remained in last place (1.13 Mbps), ahead of Verizon DSL (1.83 Mbps) and CenturyLink (2.25 Mbps), which dropped two spots.

Under Netflix’s expanded results, Google Fiber remained at the top of the U.S. ISP heap (3.80 Mbps), followed by Grande Communications (3.73 Mbps), Midcontinent Communications (3.65 Mbps) and RCN (3.64 Mbps).

Verizon FiOS retained its crown as the speediest major U.S. ISP as viewed through the Netflix lens, producing an average Netflix streaming speed of 3.55 Mbps during primetime hours for the month of April.  

According to the latest Netflix’s ISP Speed Index, Cox Communications was next, with an average of 3.49 Mbps, just enough to edge past Cablevision Systems (3.48 Mbps).

Netflix noted in a blog post that streaming speeds over Cox’s network has been steadily increasing, up from 3.11 Mbps in November 2014.

Among other movers, Time Warner Cable (3.29 Mbps) jumped one spot, to No. 7, swapping places with Mediacom Communications (3.26 Mbps).

AT&T-DSL (2.32 Mbps) and CenturyLink (2.30 Mbps) also jumped two spots, while Frontier Communications (2.28 Mbps) dropped one slot, to number 13, and Windstream Communications (2.25 Mbps) dropped three spots, to No. 14, putting it ahead of only Verizon-DSL and Clearwire.

In Netflix’s expanded results for the U.S., Google Fiber (3.63 Mbps) continued to top all ISPs, outpacing Grande Communication, Verizon FiOS, EPB, CDE Lightband, and Midcontinent Communications.

Netflix historically has used its monthly ISP speed rankings to push Open Connect, its private content delivery network that relies on edge caching devices. The OTT video giant, however, has agreed to paid interconnection deals with four major U.S. ISPs -- Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and Time Warner (Bright House Networks is benefiting from the TWC-Netflix deal), and recently struck a non-paid interconnection deal with Mediacom.

Netflix, the popular OTT video provider that has reluctantly agreed to enter paid interconnection deals with some of the nation’s largest ISPs, cheered the FCC’s vote to reclassify broadband under Title II and introduce new network neutrality rules that, for example, will open the door to a case-by-case review of interconnection-related complaints. 

“Today’s order is a meaningful step towards ensuring ISPs cannot shift bad conduct upstream to where they interconnect with content providers like Netflix,” Netflix said in its statement. “Net neutrality rules are only as strong as their weakest link, and it’s incumbent on the FCC to ensure these interconnection points aren’t used to end-run the principles of an open Internet.”

But does Netflix plan to bring any interconnection-related complaints to the FCC in the wake of Thursday’s vote? Stay tuned.

“We will review the order and decide next steps,” a Netflix spokeswoman said via email.

The FCC is expected to release the order in the coming weeks. In a fact sheet on the matter released on February 4, the FCC said the rules would, for the first time, give the Commission the authority to hear complaints and take appropriate enforcement action if necessary, if it determines the interconnection activities of ISPs are not just and reasonable…” 

Netflix has been urging the FCC to consider paid interconnection deals as it pursued the new rules, labeling such agreements  an “arbitrary tax” on the company and other over-the-top video service providers.

Netflix, which prefers that ISPs join its Open Connect program, which relies on Netflix-supplied edge caches, has reluctantly signed interconnection pacts deals with Comcast, Verizon Communications, AT&T and Time Warner Cable. Bright House Networks is benefitting from TWC's deal with Netflix. 

ISPs have maintained that paid interconnection deals are common to the business of the Internet when settlement-free peering no longer apply as the amount of traffic entering and exiting peering points is out of balance. 

Even if Netflix decides to issue a complaint, some analysts believe it will face a tall task. “Netflix will have a hard time trying to convince the FCC that they are being mistreated when the interconnection deal they have with Comcast costs them less money than using transit providers and third-party CDNs, improves the video quality for consumers, and comes with an install SLA, packet loss SLA and latency SLA from Comcast,” Dan Rayburn, EVP of StreamingMedia.com and principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said in this blog post earlier this month.

Update: Netflix signaled before the vote that it might stand pat, at least with respect to its current interconnection agreements. Speaking on Netflix’s fourth quarter call on January 20, CEO Reed Hastings  noted that the Title II rules should, over time, “significantly insulate us from any accelerating tax for interconnections,” but added that Netflix would “likely live out the current deals…that’s what’s in our plan.”