Originally published April 5 2005
FCC rules against DSL-only laws
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Federal Communications Commission has decided that states may not require phone companies to sell DSL service without an accompanying ordinary telephone line. Regional phone companies such as Verizon, SBC, and BellSouth, which require a telephone subscription as a prerequisite for a DSL line, applauded the ruling.
The Federal Communications Commission has ruled that states cannot require phone companies to sell high-speed DSL Internet service as a stand-alone product.
The regional Bell companies have been losing millions of subscribers per year as customers abandon land lines for cell phones.
They fear that Internet phone service could cause an even greater exodus of basic customers.
Qwest Communications is presently the only large regional telephone company that sells its DSL service as a "naked" stand-alone.
Verizon, SBC and BellSouth all require that customers subscribe to basic telephone service before they can buy DSL.
The 3-2 FCC decision, which followed party lines, involved a BellSouth case that has been pending since 2003.
Republicans, led by outgoing Chairman Michael E. Powell, voted to pre-empt state regulations requiring telephone companies to sell stand-alone DSL service.
BellSouth contended the state rules were unfair and asked the FCC to decree that since federal regulations do not require regional phone companies to provide stand-alone service, the states should bow to the federal standard.
In their dissent, Adelstein and Copps said the commission used the "heavy hammer of preemption" without considering consumers' interests.
"What prevents a carrier from refusing to provide DSL service to a savvy consumer who wants stand-alone broadband only for VoIP?"
Copps and Adelstein echoed the concerns of smaller carriers and Internet phone providers like Vonage.
BellSouth applauded the decision, which it said would "provide the regulatory assurance necessary to justify the levels of investment required to support the high-speed networks and services of tomorrow."
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