Phone companies need not provide high-speed internet lines to competitors that provide similar services, the Federal Communications Commission ruled by a 4-0 vote on Friday, saying that digital subscriber line (DSL) is an information - not a telecommunication - service, Newsday reports.

The widely expected ruling will allow phone companies' DSL services to better compete with cable modem service, which received a similar FCC designation in 2002 - a ruling that the Supreme Court upheld in June, in the Brand X case.

"Consumers will reap the benefits of increased internet-access competition and enjoy innovative high-speed services at lower prices," said FCC chairman Kevin Martin. But consumer groups said independent providers that rely on access to phone company lines would be pushed out, with consumers as a result being forced to subscribe to bundled services at higher prices.

The phone companies say the ruling will allow them to allocate resources to improving broadband service, and one the FCC commissioners said he would watch to see whether they actually do so, writes CNET. There will be a one-year transitional period during which phone companies must still provide network access to competing ISPs.

Cable operators have more than 22 million modem customers, while phone companies have more than 15 million DSL customers, according to industry analysts. Meanwhile, DSL and cable high-speed internet provides are encroaching on each other's realms. Cable operators are offering digital phone service, and phone companies are launching cable TV service.

According to the FCC ruling, DSL providers must comply with the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, which requires broadband voice services providers to allow the government access to their networks for wiretapping.

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