<Dd> Sec. 710 . Authorization of appropriations . </Dd> <P> The Act makes a significant distinction between providers of telecommunications services and information services . The term' telecommunications service' means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used .' On the other hand, the term' information service' means the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, and includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use of any such capability for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunications service . The distinction comes into play when a carrier provides information services . A carrier providing information services is not a' telecommunications carrier' under the act . For example, a carrier is not a' telecommunications carrier' when it is selling broadband Internet access . This distinction becomes particularly important because the act enforces specific regulations against' telecommunications carriers' but not against carriers providing information services . With the convergence of telephone, cable, and internet providers, this distinction has created much controversy . </P> <P> The Act both deregulated and created new regulations . Congress forced local telephone companies to share their lines with competitors at regulated rates if "the failure to provide access to such network elements would impair the ability of the telecommunications carrier seeking access to provide the services that it seeks to offer" (Section 251 (3) (2) (B)). This led to the creation of a new group of telephone companies, "Competitive Local Exchange Carriers" (CLECs), that compete with "ILECs" or incumbent local exchange carriers . </P> <P> Most media ownership regulations were eased, and the cap on radio station ownership was eliminated . </P>

List the most important results of the telecommunications act of 1996