itch Network Copper Loop Splitter Voice & Data Packet Switch Network Figure 10.2. Typical configuration of local telephone network providing DSL service. range provided by the fiber optic connection greatly enhance the performance and quality of voice transmissions. DLCs, however, can impede the deployment of DSL. This is because DSL depends on the ability to send and receive signals in an analog format through an all-copper connection. Because the portion of the DLC system between the central office and the remote terminal employs digital transmissions through a fiber optic connection, local telephone companies that wish to provide DSL service on a network containing DLCs must either deploy DSLAMs in remote terminals, which also increases the number of end users potentially served by DSL by reducing the distance between the DSLAM and individual customers, or find an alternative copper loop running between the customer and the central office (see Figure 10.3). In stark contrast to the tentativeness of the FCC's regulatory approach to cable modems, the agency did not hesitate to assert jurisdiction over DSL. From the Central Office Customer Remote Terminal Premises DSLAM Fiber Circuit Voice Conditioned Voice Switch Network Copper Loop Splitter Voice & Data Fiber Packet Switch Network Figure 10.3. Configuration of DSL service provided through digital loop carriers. The Regulation of Last-Mile Broadband Networks beginning, the FCC concluded that DSL was analogous to private-line services offering dedicated connections providing direct access to long distance providers. So long as interstate traffic represented more than ten percent of the total traffic, DSL was properly tariffed at the federal level and not at the state level (FCC 1998e). The net result was that DSL was typically offered as a tariffed service (FCC 1999h). The FCC has also wrestled with how to apply the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to the Internet, which Congress all but ignored when enacting the legislation. The major access provisions of the 1996