There’s been an interesting update on the FCC’s dealings with special access markets. “Special access” refers to high speed broadband connections linking commercial users (such as, for example, within an office building) to main telecommunications lines, wherein a single provider typically leases access to other providers. The FCC estimates that the market for special access services is between $12 billion and $18 billion a year. The prices that providers could charge were capped under old rules, but in 1999, the FCC adopted a rule that allowed telecommunications companies to request deregulation of special access markets under certain conditions. Just last week, however, the FCC suspended this rule, saying it needs a better method to gauge competitiveness in those markets.