"US telecoms regulator the FCC has signaled the end of the independent ISP, a move which will leave DSL provision concentrated in the hands of just a few large providers. The move, which turns local DSL provision from a regulated monopoly into an unregulated monopoly, also has repercussions for rural telephony providers, who will lose a chunk of subsidy, and has potentially chilling consequences for free speech.
(snip)
"At the moment in the US, DSL is sold wholesale by companies owned by the Baby Bells, aka the "ILECs" (incumbent local exchange carriers), such as SBC (formerly Southwestern Bell and Pacific Bell), and Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic). The ILECs are also DSL retailers, of course, in direct competition with independent ISPs who depend on the ILECs for service and in most cases, infrastructure.
(snip)
"In a statement, the president of the California ISP Association CISPA Dane Jasper described it as 'a re-monopolization of a network that has been publicly regulated and paid for by rate payers for more than 100 years.'
"'This is not leveling the DSL playing field. The FCC is putting a fence around the playing field and giving the keys to a few phone companies with armies of paid lobbyists, letting the phone companies decide who can play in the broadband game.'"
More:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/08/06/fcc_dsl/