Legislative Reference
Legislative Reference
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 states the obligations of the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) regarding the interconnection of competitor’s networks. An ILEC has the duty to negotiate agreements with competitors that provide, for the facilities and equipment of any requesting telecommunications carrier, interconnection with the local exchange carrier's network:
- For the transmission and routing of telephone exchange service and exchange access
- At any technically feasible point within the carrier's network
- 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
- On rates, terms, and conditions that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory.
Overview
The Interconnection section will provide the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) with an understanding of what is required to interconnect for the express purpose of exchanging call traffic between the CLEC and Southwestern Bell (SWBT) networks. This concept is separate from the interconnection of Unbundled Network Elements (UNEs). Hence, there are two distinct types of interconnection:
- Interconnection (Traffic)
- Network connections for the exchange of traffic between the CLEC and LEC
- Discussed in this section
- Interconnection (UNEs)
- Connecting UNEs to the CLEC network
- Discussed in the UNE, Access to UNEs section
The Interconnection (Traffic) topic will define the overall process for establishing network interconnection. This topic is divided into the following sections:
- Interconnection Prerequisites for CLECs
- Negotiating Interconnection
- Establishing Interconnection
