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Handbook for Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas

*Overview*

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Resale-Overview

Overview of Resale Section

Definition Of Resellers and Service Providers

Independence of EUs

Honoring Contracts With Joint Marketing EUs Who Convert to CLEC-Resellers

Customer of Record

Customer Provided Equipment (CPE)

Responsibilities of AT&T and CLEC-Resellers

Cooperative Planning & Forecasts for Resale

Assuming an Existing Contract

Overview

The purpose of the Resale section of the Handbook is to provide a reference source to enable Non-Facilities-Based Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), referred to as 'CLEC-Resellers', to operate in the AT&T-5 State region. This section will:

  • Help CLEC-Resellers understand how to do business with AT&T
  • Explain the roles and responsibilities of the CLEC-Reseller and AT&T
  • Provide Links to other sections of the Handbook that has pertinent information to CLEC-Resellers
  • Enable CLEC-Resellers to obtain information about Resale Products and Services, including Promotions
  • Allow CLEC-Resellers to access Product/Service Ordering information

The main areas within the Resale section are:

  • Products and Services: The Products and Services section offers information on a comprehensive range of Products and Services available to the CLEC-Reseller. The section is divided into the following subsections:

    • Simple Products and Services: Simple Products and Services are non-designed/engineered Local and General Exchange Tariff telecommunications services (e.g., single line Residence and Business flat rate or Measured classes of service). The information provided for these products and services includes general descriptions of the product, availability, limitations, and instructions, where applicable.

    • Complex Products and Services: Complex Products and Services are Local and General Exchange and Private Line services that require special designing/engineering to assure AT&T and/or industry standard grade of service or transmission quality (e.g., Trunks, Centrex/Plexar, Hunting). The information provided for these products and services includes general descriptions of the product, availability, limitations, and instructions, where applicable.

    • Basic Products and Services: Basic Products and Services are Local and General Exchange Tariff services that may apply to both simple or complex Residence and Business service (e.g., Call Restrictions, Calling Plans, Custom Calling, AIN). The information provided for these products and services includes general descriptions of the product, availability, limitations, and instructions, where applicable.

  • Ordering: This section contains information to facilitate the CLEC ordering process for resale services including ordering prerequisites, the pre-order process, ordering options, ordering resale services, and links to ordering forms for specific services.

The basic sub-sections used to describe each product/service are:

  • Description: This describes the product/service and all pertinent features, functions and options.
  • Availability: This describes the factors that determine whether or not a CLEC can actually order the product/service.
  • Limitations: This describes any limitations that apply when using the product/service, assuming the product is available and has been provisioned.
  • Instructions: This provides any specific details on provisioning or using the product.

Additional information for all of these sub-sections is also available in the appropriate state tariffs.

Definition Of Resellers and Service Providers

AT&T:

  • Provisions exchange service to CLEC End User location(s). The CLEC-Reseller resells it to their EUs
  • Bills the CLEC for these resold services, and the CLEC may bill its EUs

The definitions of the various types of service providers, as used in this Handbook, are:

  • Local Service Provider (LSP): An LSP provides local exchange services to end users. CLECs, CLEC-Resellers, and AT&T are all LSPs. The LSP may directly provide:

    • Local exchange services by means of its own facilities
    • Facilities or services of another provider
    • Its own facilities

  • Local Network Provider (LNP): AT&T is a LNP. An LNP provides network facilities and equipment which are used to provide:

    • Local loop connection between the EU's premises and the network
    • Dial tone at the Central Office (CO)
    • Access to the switching network for transporting calls

  • Interexchange Carrier (IXC): An IXC provides interLATA long distance services

Relationship to Interexchange Carriers

For resold lines, AT&T continues to provide exchange access services to IXCs, and bills these exchange access services to IXCs for calls to IXCs originating from or terminating to CLEC-Reseller's EUs or AT&T end users. AT&T does not bill either CLEC-Resellers or the end user for IntraLATA long distance services.

Independence of EUs

CLEC end users are able to obtain some services from AT&T, regardless of whether they subscribe to local exchange services from a CLEC-Reseller, e.g:

  • Non-subscriber calling cards
  • Listings
  • Other services not associated with the Working Telephone Number (WTN)

CLEC EUs can:

  • Obtain features directly from other providers, e.g., voice messaging service, internet service, etc.
  • Be billed directly by multiple providers

Honoring Contracts With Joint Marketing EUs Who Convert to CLEC-Resellers

Joint Marketing allows the Account Teams to coordinate the sale of Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) with the sale of regulated network services, in order to provide end user with complete network solutions.

Joint Marketing EUs:

  • Can convert to CLEC-Resellers
  • Have the option of either:
    • Terminating their contracts with AT&T when they convert to CLEC-Resellers
    • Keeping their current contracts (those which are already in existence and have not expired). AT&T must honor these contracts and the associated Repair service for CPE.

Billing of these services, formerly appearing on the end user bill will stop effective with the conversion of service to the new provider. Any outstanding charges (e.g., installment billing, etc.) will appear on the final bill to the EU. If special arrangements are needed by the EU for these outstanding charges, the EU should contact the service vendor directly to negotiate resolution/special consideration.

The length of liability for most contracts is one year. Future Joint Marketing contracts will contain a clause which terminates the contracts if the EU moves (converts) to another CLEC.

In a joint marketing arrangement, where AT&T is the network provider, AT&T remains the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for repair for those EUs on the AT&T network. In that instance, the CLEC calls the Local Operations Center (LOC) to report repair needs.

Customer of Record

Once a retail account has been converted to a CLEC, or a new connection of service has been installed by a CLEC, the provider of that service is the CLEC (current provider of record). customer of record is the CLEC for:

  • The access line(s)
  • All features associated with the access line that have been ordered by the CLEC
  • All AT&T intraLATA usage originating and charged to the access line

Exception: CLECs conducting resale business under Texas House Bill 2128 and CLECs with special contract language; in these cases, AT&T will bill the EU direct for all intraLATA calls.

Customer Provided Equipment (CPE)

Customer Provided Equipment (CPE), including amplification and other Deaf and Disabled Services terminal equipment, can be connected to the Access Line, providing it conforms with the Industry and AT&T standards and tariffs.

  • AT&T will not fix, repair or replace CPE

Exception: As previously noted, where CPE was provided by AT&T or it's affiliate.

Responsibilities of AT&T and CLEC-Resellers

Responsibilities of AT&T

  • AT&T shall allow the CLEC-Reseller to place local service requests and receive phone number assignments (for new lines). These activities shall be accomplished by facsimile or electronic interface as outlined in the Ordering section.
  • AT&T shall implement CLEC-Reseller local service requests within the normal same time intervals AT&T uses to implement local service requests for similar services for retail EUs.
  • The CLEC-Reseller will have the ability to report trouble for its EUs to appropriate trouble reporting centers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The CLEC-Reseller will be assigned a customer contact center when initial service agreements are made. The CLEC-Reseller EUs calling AT&T may be referred to the CLEC-Resellers at the number provided by the CLEC-Reseller. AT&T shall at all times be responsible for the repair and maintenance of its network. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to authorize CLEC-Reseller to repair, maintain, or in any way touch AT&T network facilities, including those on EU premises.

    Note: Operational procedures for ordering are outlined in the Ordering section of this Handbook.

  • On no less than sixty (60) days advance written notice, the CLEC-Reseller may request AT&T to make certain usage information available to the CLEC-Reseller on a daily basis in a standard electronic format. The information will consist of usage sensitive charges AT&T will bill to the CLEC-Reseller arising out of the use of resold lines. The CLEC-Reseller will pay AT&T three tenths of a cent ($.003) per message for this service, plus other charges outlined in the Ordering section.
  • Subject to any future order of the FCC which obligates AT&T to pay an amount different from the following, AT&T will pay Payphone Compensation due with respect to the Payphone lines in the amount of $0.284 per call. AT&T will pay to the CLEC-Reseller such Payphone Compensation only for (i) intraLATA subscriber 800 calls for which AT&T provides the 800 service to the subscriber and carries the call and (ii) intraLATA calls placed using an AT&T prepaid calling card platform and carried by AT&T. AT&T will not pay to the CLEC-Reseller any Payphone Compensation for non-sent paid calls.
  • AT&T will pay to the CLEC-Reseller the Payphone Compensation due to the CLEC-Reseller Payphone Service Provider (PSP) EU within sixty (60) days after the close of the calendar quarter in which the call for which Payphone Compensation is due is made. However, payment may be made later than sixty (60) days if deems it necessary to investigate a call or calls for possible fraud.
  • AT&T will make any payment due to the CLEC-Reseller under FCC requirements by crediting the CLEC-Reseller's bill for the Payphone Line over which the call which gave rise to the Payphone Compensation is placed. AT&T will not issue a check to the CLEC-Reseller if the credit for Payphone Compensation exceeds the balance due to AT&T on the bill.
  • The CLEC-Reseller is not entitled to receive, nor is AT&T obligated to provide any call detail or other call record.

Responsibilities of the CLEC-Reseller

Payment of Rates and Charges:

  • The CLEC-Reseller is solely responsible for the payment of charges for all services furnished under any agreement or tariff including, but not limited to, calls originated or accepted at the CLEC-Reseller's location and its EUs' service locations, with the exception of any retail services provided directly by AT&T to the EU which AT&T shall be responsible for billing.
  • Interexchange carried traffic (e.g., sent-paid, information services and alternate operator services messages) received by AT&T for billing to resold EU accounts will be returned as unbillable and will not be passed on to the CLEC for billing. An unbillable code returned with those messages to the carrier will indicate that the messages originated from a resold account and will not be billed by AT&T.
  • AT&T shall not be responsible for the manner in which the use of resold service, or the associated charges are allocated to others by the CLEC. All applicable rates and charges for such services will be billed to and shall be the responsibility of the CLEC-Reseller, with the exception of other retail services provided directly to the EU by AT&T as described in paragraph 1 above.
  • Compensation for all services shall be paid by the CLEC regardless of the CLEC's ability or inability to collect charges from its EU for such service.
  • If the CLEC does not wish to be responsible for collect, third number billed, toll and information services (e.g., 900) calls, it must order the appropriate blocking for resold and pay any applicable charges. The CLEC should acknowledge that blocking is not available for certain types of calls, including 800 numbers. It is the responsibility of the CLEC to order the appropriate toll restriction or blocking on all of their resold EU lines. Depending on the origination point, some calls may bypass blocking systems. The CLEC shall be responsible for any charges associated with such calls.
  • The CLEC will pay all costs associated with a CLEC name change.

In accordance with industry standards, IXC PIC selections for lines resold to the CLEC will not be processed from IXCs or EUs, but will only be processed if received from the CLEC.

Additional Responsibilities of the Parties

The following information details AT&T and the CLEC's responsibility concerning Cooperation on Fraud:

  • AT&T shall not be liable to the CLEC for any fraudulent usage on the CLEC's end user accounts.
  • AT&T and the CLEC-Reseller will cooperate with one another to investigate, minimize and take corrective action in cases of fraud. The Parties' fraud minimization procedures are to be cost effective and implemented so as not to unduly burden or harm one Party as compared to the other.
  • At a minimum, such cooperation shall include providing to the other Party, upon request, information concerning EUs who terminate services to that Party without paying all outstanding charges, when such EU seeks service from the other Party. The Party seeking such information is responsible for securing the EU's permission to obtain such information.

Cooperative Planning & Forecasts for Resale
Cooperative planning and forecasting are essential to ensuring that AT&T has the capability to meet the ordering, provisioning, and maintenance needs of CLEC. The forecasting process is designed to meet the resale needs of both the CLEC and the EU in reasonable timeframes. Specifically, it will allow AT&T to adequately engineer its CO facilities, as well as to ensure that adequate systems and staffing levels are in place to meet CLEC operational requirements.

Forecasts should be electronically transmitted to AT&T. Each forecast will be handled with extreme confidentiality. General forecast questions can be referred to the Resale Account Manager assigned to the CLEC's account.

Forecasts:

  • Are to be completed/updated on a quarterly basis
  • Should provide a minimum one year forecast by product

Assuming an Existing Contract

Assumption of Existing Agreements is available only for resale services. It is not available to CLECs that provide facilities-based or UNE-P service, nor is it available for CLEC to CLEC migrations.

  • If a CLEC encounters a prospective end user that is under contract with AT&T, the CLEC can generally assume existing Business Discount Plans, Term Volume Agreements or any Customer Specific Pricing (CSP) contracts.
  • Before a CLEC can assume any existing retail contract in AT&T, they must sign an amendment to their contract through their Account Manager.
  • The CLEC will inform the Local Service Center, in writing, of its intent to assume and resell a service under agreement by submitting an LSR.
  • The CLEC will assume the balance of the terms, including volume, term and termination liability existing on a current end user's contract at the time of conversion.
  • The Assumption of Existing Agreements Form must be faxed to the Local Service Center within 30 minutes of the time an LSR is submitted through LASR or WFM (or should be included with the LSR when the request is submitted manually). The information of: ATTN: Complex Group or LSC Term Agreements must be included on the cover sheet. The LSC fax numbers are:

Main Fax Number: 888-850-9815

Backup Fax Number: 888-550-1952

  • The CLEC must use ACT 'W' on the LSR. CLECs submitting requests with ACT 'V' need to send the Assumption of Existing Agreement ONLY if they want to assume the contract for the existing service(s). If the Assumption of Existing Agreement, associated with the ACT 'V' request is not sent, the end user will be billed Termination Liability as appropriate.
  • The original Assumption of Existing Agreement Form must be sent to the LSC within 30 days. In the event the signed original is not received within 30 days, the CLEC's Account Manager will be contacted.

Termination Decision Chart

IF THE

AND

Termination Charges Apply?

Account belongs to AT&T

Reseller requests Migrate as Specified without recapping the contract.

Y

Account is owned by AT&T or another Reseller

Reseller requests "Migrate As Is."

N

Account is owned by AT&T or another Reseller

Reseller requests "Migrate As Specified" and re-caps contract.

N

Account is owned by a Reseller

Orders a Disconnect of service that is under contract.

Y

Account is owned by a Reseller

Another Reseller requests Migrate as Specified without the contract.

Y

Account is owned by a Reseller

AT&T sends a Winback order without assuming the contract.

Y

Account is owned by Reseller

AT&T sends Winback order and assumes contract back.

N

Account is owned by a Reseller

Sends order to change type of service without a new contract, i.e., Grandfathered Centrex to current tariff.

Y

Account is owned by a Reseller

Changes from one service to another, same class of service, i.e., Grandfathered Centrex to current Centrex tariff new contract is of equal or greater terms and conditions.

N

Account is owned by a Reseller

Changes from one service to another, different class of service, i.e., Centrex to ISDN Prime, with or without a new contract

Y

Account is owned by AT&T or a Reseller

Request received to Migrate As Specified. The Reseller elects to replace the contract with a contract of equal or greater term.

N

Account is owned by a Reseller

Orders disconnect of service. Account has an Aggregated* OCP.

N

Account is owned by a Reseller

AT&T sends a Winback order. Account has an Aggregated* OCP.

N

Account is owned by a Reseller

Another Reseller submits a Migrate order. The account has an Aggregated* OCP.

N

Account is owned by AT&T

Reseller submits "Migrate As Is" order and elects to add the individual end-user contract to a contract that the Reseller has purchased to aggregate end users, i.e., umbrella contract.

N

Note: * Aggregated means that the Reseller has signed one contract that will cover all of their end-users. The toll from all of the end-users is added together to meet the commitment.