The decision, which took effect without a formal vote on March 19, outraged large corporations that buy data and voice services from Verizon, as well as smaller phone companies. A group of 27 large corporate telecommunications customers had argued in a 14-page brief that Verizon should not be exempted from FCC rules because business broadband markets are not yet competitive and services are costly.

"Verizon was already price-gouging customers while it was regulated, and this action significantly raises the risk for prices to increase on the broadband building blocks for enterprise customers," said Colleen Boothby, a Washington attorney for the companies, known as the AdHoc Telecommunications Users Committee. "This kind of decision -- to give Verizon what it wants regardless of whether that hurts customers -- is what gives Washington a bad name."

She predicted that the decision will be appealed.

"Anybody who buys these services for a living knows that the market for business broadband just isn't competitive," Boothby said. "That may be a politically inconvenient fact, but it's still a fact."

With one seat unfilled on the five-member FCC, commissioners were split along Democrat and Republican party lines over the Verizon petition for exemptions. Although the matter never came to a vote, Verizon's petition was approved under a rarely-used statute that allows a company's request to be approved unless the FCC denies it within a certain period of time. That period expired on Sunday, and the decision was announced the next day.