FCC Says States Can't Impose DSL Requirements On Bells Dow Jones Newswires
Friday March 25, 5:30 PM EST
http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&cat=INDUSTRY&feed=dji&news_id=dji-00059920050325&date=20050325
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Federal Communications Commission on Friday said states can't force Bells and other incumbent carriers to provide DSL service to customers who use competitive carriers for their voice service.
The agency granted a petition filed by BellSouth Corp. (BLS) in December 2003 after such DSL requirements were imposed by Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Kentucky.
"We find that a state commission may not require an incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) to provide digital subscriber line (DSL) service to an end user customer over the same unbundled network element loop facility that a competitive LEC uses to provide voice services to that end user," the FCC said in its ruling.
Such state requirements run counter to recent network-sharing rules approved by the FCC, the agency added.
The FCC voted on the petition last week before the departure of former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who was succeeded by Kevin Martin.
"The ruling helps provide the regulatory assurance necessary to justify the levels of investment required to support the high-speed networks and services of tomorrow," said Jonathan Banks, BellSouth vice president federal executive and regulatory affairs.
The issue is linked to what's known in policy circles as "naked DSL" - in which DSL service is provided to customers who receive no voice service at all.
The FCC's two Democrats, who dissented to parts of the ruling, cautioned that the agency's decision could restrict the ability of consumers to purchase DSL service alone or gain access to Internet telephone service, known as VOIP.
"If it is permissible to deny consumers DSL if they do not also order analog voice service, what stops a carrier from denying broadband service to an end- user who has cut the cord and uses only a wireless phone?" said commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, in a joint statement.
"What prevents a carrier from refusing to provide DSL service to a savvy consumer who wants stand-alone broadband only for VOIP?" they added.
Copps and Adelstein approved sections of the decision related to number portability.
"This commission says it wants competition but here's a blatant anticompetitive" ruling, said Mark Cooper of Consumers Federation of America. " You can't say you want competition from VOIP and tell people they have to buy voice service" from a Bell, he added.
================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu
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