DSL subscribers may be forced to switch DSL services

[Tom Metro]

It's unclear what is considered a "smaller competitor" (smaller relative 
to what? Verizon?) and which DSL providers might be grandfathered in.

It's stuff like this that makes me reluctant to switch my cable TV 
service to Verizon, even it it ends up being cheaper and better.

  -Tom


Verizon petitions FCC for deregulation of DSL in East Coast cities
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070815-east-coast-verizon-wants-to-be-your-dsl-provider.html

   DSL subscribers on the East Coast, specifically in major
   metropolitan areas like New York and Boston, may be forced to switch
   DSL services in the future if a new request from Verizon to the
   Federal Communications Commission is approved.

   Currently, the FCC requires that Verizon lease out some of its
   network space to smaller competitors like EarthLink to ensure a
   competitive broadband market with lots of options for consumers. But
   in most of the rest of the country, DSL has been deregulated by the
   FCC. Post-deregulation, DSL providers - typically the big telecoms -
   no longer have to lease out or share their network to smaller
   competitors (with the exception of a couple of companies that were
   grandfathered in).
   ...
   A deregulated market would be more profitable for Verizon since it
   would be able to provide services to customers of companies that
   would be forced out of the market.

   State regulators and Verizon's competitors oppose the telecom's
   petition. The Massachusetts Attorney General's office and Department
   of Telecommunications and Cable have both argued against further
   deregulation in that state.
   ...


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