FTC Clears Access for AOL Rivals

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday certified four providers of high-speed Internet service to compete on AOL Time Warner Inc. cable systems around the country.

The FTC voted to endorse AOL’s application for one of the Internet service providers, a company called Inter.net, to provide high-speed Internet service on Time Warner cable systems nationwide.

In addition, the agency approved three other companies to compete on a regional basis: New York Connect in the New York City area, Internet Junction in Tampa Bay and central Florida, and Stic.Net in the San Antonio, Houston and Austin, Texas, areas.

Approval of the competitors helps AOL fulfill promises it made when the FTC approved its $106.2-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc.

As part of the regulatory approval, the FTC required AOL Time Warner to offer high-speed Internet access over its cable systems from at least three rival ISPs before offering its own AOL service.

The company began making AOL available over its cable lines in the 20 largest markets in September, spokeswoman Kathy McKiernan said. EarthLink also was available as an alternative.

AOL Time Warner has been seeking agreements with other companies all year to meet the government requirements for two more Internet providers in each market.

High-speed Internet services are widely seen as the next big growth engine for ISPs, and many are aggressively trying to secure a way into the home via cable to offer services such as digital music and interactive television.

A spokeswoman for AOL said it was pleased with the approval.

“Part of it [the deal] was to open up their backbone, but the fact that it’s not just national players [they are choosing] shows that local providers can make it as well,” said Andrew Coren, head of New York Connect, of the AOL Time Warner open-access pact.

Shares of AOL Time Warner rose 98 cents to $32.43 on the New York Stock Exchange.