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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday denied a petition by SBC Communications Inc. that sought to exempt new Internet-based services from traditional telephone regulations.
The SBC petition would have shielded the company and its peers' new Internet networks from rules that are applied to traditional telephone networks, like providing competitors access to that infrastructure at wholesale prices.
The FCC voted 4-0 to reject the petition on procedural grounds, stating SBC asked the agency to withhold imposing regulations that may or may not apply to the companies or services.
Additionally, the FCC said the company failed to define what services, locations and companies it wanted the agency to exempt from the traditional telephone regulations.
Despite the rejection, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin kept the door open for possible movement down the road.
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