The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that cable television operators don't have to share their lines with independent providers of high-speed internet access, saying the law was ambiguous and the Federal Communications Commission should be allowed to interpret it. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that the ruling deals a blow to consumer groups, which want more competition in internet services, and to providers internet services such as like America Online and Earthlink that depend on access to cable systems to provide broadband service.

The FCC has thus far forced telephone companies to share their networks for offering DSL high-speed internet access, because phone lines constitute a "telecommunications service," access to which the Telecommunication Act of 1996 requires be sold on a nondiscriminatory basis. Whereas in 2002 the FCC termed cable internet an "information service," and has argued that, as such, it should remain largely unregulated.

The Supreme Court's decision to allow exclusive access for cable companies will likely prompt telephone networks to demand similar exclusivity for DSL lines, which the FCC could now classify as an "information service," as it has expressed interest in doing.

The FCC has in recent years argued that broadband would spread faster if cable and phone companies were allowed to build out fiber networks without having to worry that competitors will be allowed to piggyback on those lines. Essentially, that position backs the creation of monopolies, at least for the short term.