FCC gives Bells big win on fiber

Several big broadband rulings from the FCC today. One is a big win for the local phone companies, and will help shape what broadband networks look like for years.

This ruling said that companies such as SBC Communications that are building fiber to the curb networks won??t have to share them with rival ISPs. Fiber to the curb means running fiber up to 500 feet from a house, and using copper phone lines to travel the rest of the way. This was mostly expected ?? the FCC had already said fiber to the home networks could be made entirely proprietary, the same way cable networks are today. That will mean you likely will get a choice of one ISP per network, instead of being able to choose EarthLink or AOL or SBC, the way you can with dial-up.

Today's decision will probably spur investment, but does shift incentives slightly downwards. If phone companies had had to share their fiber to the curb systems (which really provide fast DSL or VDSL speeds to consumers, instead of full fiber connections) the way they do today's telephone system, they would have had more incentive to string fiber all the way to homes. This way, we'll get more in-between broadband instead of full fiber networks like Verizon is building in Texas.

Still, I'd love to have a fiber strand running anywhere near my house. If the investment gets made, it'll be a big step in the right direction.