Qwest Communications International on Thursday announced the first commercial line-sharing agreement with a competitive DSL service provider since the Federal Communications Commission decided last summer to phase out its regulatory requirement of the practice.

Under the three-year agreement, Covad Communications will continue using Qwest's network to deliver broadband services within Qwest's local telephone region.

This is the first such agreement between an incumbent telephone company and a competitive service provider to be signed since the FCC's Triennial Review, which concluded that it would discontinue requiring the Baby Bells to share their lines with competitors.

Line sharing enables a company such as Covad to offer DSL (digital subscriber line) services over the same single home phone line that the local phone companies--BellSouth, Qwest, SBC Communications and Verizon Communications--use to provide voice service.

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