Incumbent local exchange carrier

ILEC or Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier is a local telephone company that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T, for example, the Baby Bells and GTE. They compete with upstart Competitive Local Exchange Carriers.

United States

ILEC in the United States means, with respect to an area, the local exchange carrier that--

• (A) on the date of enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, provided telephone exchange service in such area; and
• (B):
  • (i) on such date of enactment, was deemed to be a member of the exchange carrier association pursuant to section 69.601(b) of the Commission's regulations (47 C.F.R. 69.601(b)); or
  • (ii) is a person or entity that, on or after such date of enactment, became a successor or assign of a member described in clause (i).

The Commission may, by rule, provide for the treatment of a local exchange carrier (or class or category thereof) as an incumbent local exchange carrier for purposes of this section if--

• (A) such carrier occupies a position in the market for telephone exchange service within an area that is comparable to the position occupied by a carrier described in previously;
• (B) such carrier has substantially replaced an incumbent local exchange carrier described previously; and
• (C) such treatment is consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity.

Duties

They have the same duties of a local exchange carrier and additionally the next ones:

• Duty to negotiate.--The duty to negotiate in good faith the particular terms and conditions of agreements to fulfill the duties described for a local exchange carrier and the specific ones for the ILEC. The requesting telecommunications carrier also has the duty to negotiate in good faith the terms and conditions of such agreements.

• Interconnection.--The duty to provide, for the facilities and equipment of any requesting telecommunications carrier, interconnection with the local exchange carrier's network--
  • (A) for the transmission and routing of telephone exchange service and exchange access;
  • (B) at any technically feasible point within the carrier's network;
  • (C) that is at least equal in quality to that provided by the local exchange carrier to itself or to any subsidiary, affiliate, or any other party to which the carrier provides interconnection; and
  • (D) on rates, terms, and conditions that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement.

• unbundled access.--The duty to provide, to any requesting telelecommunications carrier for the provision of a telecommunications service, nondiscriminatory access to network elements on an unbundled basis at any technically feasible point on rates, terms, and conditions that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement . An incumbent local exchange carrier shall provide such unbundled network elements in a manner that allows requesting carriers to combine such elements in order to provide such telecommunications service.

• Resale.--The duty--
  • (A) to offer for resale at wholesale rates any telecommunications service that the carrier provides at retail to subscribers who are not telecommunications carriers; and
  • (B) not to prohibit, and not to impose unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or limitations on, the resale of such telecommunications service,

• Notice of changes.--The duty to provide reasonable public notice of changes in the information necessary for the transmission and routing of services using that local exchange carrier's facilities or networks, as well as of any other changes that would affect the interoperability of those facilities and networks.

• Collocation.--The duty to provide, on rates, terms, and conditions that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory, for physical collocation of equipment necessary for interconnection or access to unbundled network elements at the premises of the local exchange carrier, except that the carrier may provide for virtual collocation if the local exchange carrier demonstrates that physical collocation is not practical for technical reasons or because of space limitations.

External links

• ILEC agreement (http://www.verizon.com/wholesale/clecsupport/contracts/attachments/cbtoh.pdf) in PDF format.