April 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted 2-1 to significantly ease regulatory requirements in the $45 billion business data services market, a win for companies like AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon Communications and others but could lead to price hikes for many small businesses. The vote is a blow to companies like Sprint Corp and others that claim prices for business data are too high and backed a 2016 plan under President Barack Obama that would have cut prices but was never approved. (Reporting by David Shepardson)
The vote led to significantly stricter regulatory requirements.