DSL deregulation good for WiMAX too

As I speculated before, the FCC indeed declared DSL an information service. The two Democrats on the Commission gave up the battle and acknowledged that deregulating DSL was inevitable.

There are some implications, apart from the ones I already discussed:

• WiMAX could get a boost, being a third infrastructure besides DSL and cable modem. Transition to digital television may be argued forward, since this would free-up valuable spectrum for WiMAX.
• The Bells may finally be willing to step up investments in DSL. They could make broadband available to a larger part of the US population. And they could start deploying ADSL2+. The US is dramatically lagging countries ranging from Belgium to South Korea when it comes to broadband penetration.
• The Bells must not be allowed to block certain types of traffic (i.e. from independent VoIP providers) of certain web sites. In March, the FCC fined Madison River for blocking VoIP traffic from Vonage. And Canadian Telus for a short period blocked access to a union supported web site.

Related news, a few days ago, has Vonage teaming up with TowerStream, which offers businesses pre-WiMAX network services (vendor: Aperto Networks). TowerStream clients will be able to make voice calls using Vonage's VoIP service over the pre-WiMAX network (hence VoIPoWiMAX or wVoIP).