FCC bans exclusive apartment telephone deals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Communications regulators voted on Wednesday to ban exclusive deals between phone service providers and owners of apartment buildings.

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved a measure that voids existing agreements between carriers and apartment building owners and bars any new deals.

FCC officials said the exclusive agreements hurt competition because they prevent other potential competitors from offering consumers "triple-play" packages including voice, video and broadband service.

The FCC also said the order provided "regulatory parity" between phone companies and cable operators. In October the agency approved a similar ban on exclusive deals between building owners and cable television providers to provide video service.

(Reporting by Peter Kaplan; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)