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FCC to aid Internet access?
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July 17, 1998: 6:07 a.m. ET
Commission reportedly set to recommend looser rules for Baby Bells
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The Federal Communications Commission is reportedly close to recommending that the big local telephone companies be allowed to build data systems without having to resell their use to competitors, a move that could facilitate the delivery of high-speed Internet access to homes in the United States.
FCC officials told the New York Times a decision could come as early as Friday.
If adopted, the plan would represent the FCC's biggest move in favor of the Bell local telephone companies since the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
For the first time since the act was enacted, the Baby Bells would be allowed to expand their networks without having to resell their systems to other telecommunications carriers.
Under the plan, the Bells would be allowed to set up data services subsidiaries that could then build the high-speed systems. The subsidiaries would not have to resell their operations to competitors.
FCC Chairman William Kennard is said to support the plan. At a hearing with telecommunications executives last week, Kennard said the best way to make high-speed Internet access widely available is to allow telecom companies "to compete without being constrained by government power."
The full commission could issue a proposal next month, the Times said, but the battle over the plan is likely to is sure to spark protest from the nation's big long-distance carriers and from new local phone companies.
"Our goal is to turn what is today a trickle into a gushing pipeline of entertainment and information into the home," Kennard told the Times. "The incumbents, they have the… infrastructure. It would be a shame not to create incentives for them to use it for broadband services." 
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