FCC proposal could change DSL regulations

In a proposed rulemaking, the FCC has tentatively concluded that wireline broadband Internet access is an information service with a telecommunications aspect rather than a telecommunications service. The decision is not binding, and the Commission has requested comment on the proposal.

If this conclusion were to be adopted in a final rulemaking, however, it would have “enormous impacts in the market,” said FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, the FCC’s lone democrat and an opponent of the proposed change.

The service and those that provide it would no longer be subject to many regulations surrounding DSL. A likely effect of the proposed rulemaking, for example, would be the suspension of TELRIC pricing for the resale of RBOC data facilities, a change that could severely alter the competitive landscape.--Toby Weber, Staff Writer