Basic Telecommunications Lesson #1:
*What does "local access" mean?
*What is a facilities-based provider?
*What is a LATA?
*What is LEC?
*What is an ILEC?
*What is a CLEC?
*What is an RBOC?
*What is Centrex?
*What is DID?
*How did the Telecommunications Act of 1996 affect local services?
*What does "local access" mean?
Local Access is telephone service that provides calling within the immediate area. This service is provided by Local Exchange Carriers. Local access includes local telephone services and long distance services within your region (LATA). These long distance services are also referred to as intralata, local toll or regional calling.
* What is a facilities-based provider?
Facilities-based refers to a service provider that offers services via its own switching stations. Since they have their own equipment, they do not simply resell services of other companies, but are the actual service provider.
* What is a LATA?
LATA stands for Local Area Transport Area and is a designated, geographical area wherein Local Exchange Carriers provide long distance calling service. These areas are often called “local-toll†or “regional toll†calling areas.“ The United States is divided into 198 LATAs.
* What is a LEC?
LEC stands for Local Exchange Carrier and refers to local telephone company that provides local services and intralata long distance service.
* What is an ILEC?
ILEC stands for Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier. These are companies that were providers of local telephone services in defined territories prior to deregulation in 1996. This includes companies such as Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell, U S WEST, GTE, Sprint, SNET and many smaller companies.
* What is a CLEC?
CLEC stands for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. They are local telephone companies that compete with the main local phone company. They may be resellers of a facilities-based or other provider or they may provide their own facilities.
* What is a RBOC?
RBOC stands for Regional Bell Operating Companies. These are companies that were divested from AT&T in 1984. These companies are also known as "Baby Bell" Companies and are considered ILEC’s. Today they include Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell, and US WEST. They provide local telephone services to the majority of users in most states.
* What is Centrex?
Centrex refers to a class of business services that bundles many special capabilities into a single plan. The switching equipment is in the phone company’s central office. You don’t own it; you only lease its capabilities. Simple plans may add feature packages onto standard business lines and sophisticated plans may offer direct dialing from outside telephones to internal stations, intercommunications, and other functions such as Call Forwarding and Voice Mail, without the necessity of complex customer-owned equipment.
* What is DID?
Direct-Inward-Dialing refers to a feature of business lines that enables dialing directly from outside telephones to internal station numbers without an attendant’s assistance. This is accomplished via special trunks and customer-owned phone equipment.
* How did the Telecommunications Act of 1996 effect local services ?
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 stipulated that RBOC’s were required to not only allow but to facilitate competition within their local access markets. It established guidelines which, when met, will allow Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell and US WEST to offer interlata long distance services to customers within their local exchange areas.