Telecoms probe looks into US Net snarl-ups

US telecoms authority the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began investigating Internet traffic on Thursday.

The FCC has started looking at ways of stopping congestion on the Net, and observers expect it to take action to limit what ISPs can offer. The FCC wants to clear up arguments between phone companies and ISPs about problems caused by the amount of traffic on telephone lines.

ISP America Online ? whose users are taking legal action against it for its slow service ? suffered another blow this week when a power cut stopped its members? email facility working for two hours during Thursday morning.