Delivery drones are so fast they can zip a pint of ice cream to a customer’s driveway before it melts.

Yet the long-promised technology has been slow to take off in the United States. More than six years after the Federal Aviation Administration approved commercial home deliveries with drones, the service mostly has been confined to a few suburbs and rural areas.

That could soon change. The FAA proposed a new rule last week that would make it easier for companies to fly drones outside of an operator's line of sight and therefore over longer distances. A handful of companies do that now, but they had to obtain waivers and certification as an air carrier to deliver packages.

While the rule is intended to streamline the process, authorized retailers and drone companies that hav

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