FCC Issues Relaxed Unbundling Rules

As predicted, today's Federal Communications Commission meeting resulted in newly relaxed versions of the regulations that require incumbent telephone providers to lease their network capabilities to competing companies. Ben Charny has a CNET article on the matter.

The Bells will still have to open up their phone lines to local competitors--at the steeply discounted rates the regulations require. But the rules will be off-limits to any new broadband networks the Bells plan to build, the FCC decided.

Also, the states will get more clout in deciding whether the Bells should be required to open up their networks, and in what locations. The FCC had been the only agency with the authority to handle requests to offer service in new markets. Under the new rules, the state�s Public Utility Commissions will do most of the deciding instead. States had been clamoring in the past few weeks for just such a decision, and insiders believe their push for power helped topple what seemed like a Powell victory.

Now everyone involved has to take the rest of the day to read the FCC's report and figure out the details of the regulations.

FCC website with press releases and Commissioner statements: www.fcc.gov.