Washington

US REGULATORS are telling nine companies they won't be allowed to participate in a federal programme meant to help them provide affordable Internet access to low-income consumers - weeks after those companies had been given the green light.

The move, announced on Friday by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai, reverses a decision by his Democratic predecessor, Tom Wheeler, and undercuts the companies' ability to provide low-cost Internet access to poorer Americans. In a statement, Mr Pai called the initial decisions a form of "midnight regulation". "These last- minute actions, which did not enjoy the support of the majority of commissioners at the time they were taken, should not bind us going forward," he said.