FCC Chief Pushes for Easing Rules on DSL Broadband

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FCC Chief Pushes for Easing Rules on DSL Broadband
By  Reuters  
July 27, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters)—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin on Tuesday pushed his colleagues to move quickly to ease regulations on high-speed Internet service offered by U.S. telephone companies.

Martin said he has circulated a proposal that would treat the service, known as digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband, as an information service. If approved, that would exempt it from most traditional telephone rules, such as requirements to lease network access to competitors.

The FCC in 2002 decided that broadband Internet service offered by cable companies was an information service and the Supreme Court last month upheld that decision. That has cleared the road for the FCC to act on DSL service.

Martin said he has already "shared with my colleagues" a proposal that will give telephone carriers the same regulatory framework as other providers.

"I hope an order will be adopted as soon as possible," Martin, a Republican, said at a meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Since the FCC is currently divided between two Democrats and two Republicans, Martin must convince at least one Democrat to back his proposal.

Telephone companies have complained that applying legacy telephone rules to new broadband services put them at a competitive disadvantage against other companies, like cable operators, who do not have to adhere to such regulations.

"The lack of regulatory parity between telecoms and cable is inhibiting broadband growth," said Martin.

The FCC could still impose some restrictions on the service if the agency found the public interest was harmed.

Verizon Communications and SBC Communications Inc., the two biggest local telephone companies have aggressively been pushing DSL, offering discounts to sign up customers. Verizon earlier on Tuesday said it had added 278,000 high-speed lines in the second quarter, some of which include service via new fiber-optic lines.

While DSL is usually cheaper, cable Internet service typically offers faster speeds.