WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday night approved a seven-year extension of a moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access.

The Senate voice vote came a little over a week after the House passed a bill calling for a four-year moratorium. The tax ban, first approved in 1998, is set to expire Nov. 1.

Attempts in both the House and Senate to make the ban permanent in recent weeks were unsuccessful despite strong support for the idea.

Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in a joint statement called the agreement "a commonsense victory both for Internet users and for state and local governments."

The two chambers will have to reach a compromise on the length of the ban and other differences before the bill can be sent to the White House for President Bush's signature.