Washington ? The nation’s top communications regulator told lawmakers Tuesday that upcoming decisions on local phone competition and media ownership will not take choices away from consumers.

“We will be guided exclusively by the public interest,” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell told the Senate Commerce Committee.

The agency’s decisions this year could reshape the landscape of media companies and the telecommunications industry. All five of the FCC’s commissioners testified before the committee.

The most contentious issue at the hearing involved an FCC review of rules involving the leasing of telephone networks. The regional Bell companies — BellSouth Corp., SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications — have been required to provide parts of their local networks to competitors like AT&T Corp. and WorldCom Inc. at discount rates.

The Bells have argued that federal regulators are cheating them out of their sizable investments by limiting what they can charge. Bell rivals are worried that the FCC is moving toward giving the Bells what they want by undoing a 7-year-old rule intended to encourage competition.

Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., said “the cries of the Bells grow louder” as competition increases.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday the panel was studying the rules of competition in the telecommunications industry. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein is in the background.

“The FCC is considering radically revising the rules of the game,” he said.

Powell said it would be better for the industry if competitors build their own phone network equipment. However, he added, “Nothing being contemplated by the commission is going to result in absolutely no access to” the Bell’s networks.

Courts have rejected the FCC’s last two attempts to rewrite rules governing the leasing of phone networks. Powell said a third agency proposal must be made within weeks to meet a court deadline.