U.S. regulators are expected to up-end state public utility rules that force BellSouth to let customers buy its high-speed Internet service without having to also sign up for its local phone offering.
As early as Monday, said a source familiar with the situation, the Federal Communications Commission could suspend public utility commission regulations in California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana that forced BellSouth to sell DSL, or digital subscriber line, service separate from its local phone service. In the past, the two services had been inextricably linked. Such a decision would send a strong message to other state utility commissions that might be considering similar rules, the source said.
The expected FCC decision would have a profound effect on the few thousand people in the four states who now get "naked" DSL from BellSouth. It would also affect the millions of homeowners who would go with a separate DSL offering given the chance, insiders believe. The possible precedent for the Bells -- BellSouth and the nation's three other top phone and DSL providers -- could even affect cable operators that sell broadband and telephony on fiber-optic networks, services that are much faster than the Bells' DSL.
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