Local phone companies have faced the stick from FCC. This ruling is expected to bring relief to millions of rural Americans with the new discount phone service. FCC has given a ruling that local phone companies will not be able to block internet phone based offerings from cable companies.

Kevin Martin, Chairman, FCC stated:

The commission must promote competition.

It was almost last year when Time Warner Cable had filed a petition with FCC in which it complained that rural carriers in nebraska and South Carolina were not permitting connections therefore Time Warner's VoIP users and rural phone users were not able to exchange calls. They were not even offering 911 services. This decision from FCC is expected to benefit millions of Americans with internet based communications. Cable companies had been able to snatch millions of VoIP customers from local phone companies in bigger cities but they could not attack the rural markets since a number of them did not have any landline phone alternative. Now the customers will smile and the local phone companies can do nothing but fume.