SBC Communications Inc. lost a request with U.S. regulators to keep video and high-speed Internet services free from the same set of rules that apply to voice and other Web products sold by phone companies.
The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to reject the petition from SBC, the second-largest U.S. phone company, according to the FCC’s website.
The FCC denied the request because the rules “may not even apply” and because the petition wasn’t specific enough, the regulator said.
The denial means San Antonio-based SBC will have to wait longer for decisions on government regulation of the services it will deliver over a $4 billion fiber-optic network. Without a favorable ruling, the new video and faster-speed Internet services could be subject to some taxes and price regulations.
Thursday’s FCC decision “doesn’t seem like that it would prejudice in any way the final outcome” of rules for the new services, said Jessica Zufolo, a telecommunications-policy analyst at Medley Global Advisors in Washington.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement that the agency denied the request on “procedural grounds” and that the FCC “should move forward to address the creation of a level playing field for the provision of advanced services by similarly situated service providers,” without old regulations.
SBC said that even with a loss on this ruling the company is “optimistic” that Martin and the FCC will take on the Internet-regulatory issues in the coming months.
SBC plans to extend the video and high-speed Internet services to 18 million households.
