[Infowarrior] - FCC weighs decision on Net access charges

[Richard Forno]

FCC weighs decision on Net access charges

By Reuters
http://www.news.com/FCC-weighs-decision-on-Net-access-charges/2100-1034_3-62
12892.html

Story last modified Thu Oct 11 06:09:00 PDT 2007


U.S. regulators are expected to decide Thursday whether to grant a request
by AT&T to lift some regulations that govern what it can charge rivals for
access to its high-speed Internet lines.

The Federal Communications Commission is facing a deadline of midnight on
Thursday to rule on a petition by AT&T to scale back the regulations.

Analysts have said the commission could rule at the same time on a similar
petition by Qwest Communications International, whose request was put on
hold by the agency last month.

The FCC eased the same regulations on Verizon Communications last year.
Verizon's petition was not approved by the agency, but went into effect when
one of the commissioners was recused and the remaining four deadlocked.

All the requests have been strongly opposed by smaller rivals such as Sprint
Nextel, Time Warner Telecommunications and XO Communications.

These competitors argue that they have few alternatives to get access to the
high-speed lines they need, and are being charged more and more by the
dominant carriers.

Some commissioners and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also expressed
concerns about easing the regulations on AT&T at a time when the FCC is
studying a whether to reimpose similar restrictions on the business services
offered by the major U.S. phone carriers.

But Verizon and AT&T counter that the market for high-speed access has been
growing more competitive and that prices have been declining.

Analysts say the five-member FCC is split over the issue between Republicans
and Democrats. One of the three Republicans, Robert McDowell, holds the
swing vote.

"He has played his cards very close to the vest," one source close to the
matter said.

Story Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.