Editing Registered jack (section)

==History and authority==
Registration interfaces were created by the Bell System under a [[Federal Communications Commission]] order for the standard [[interconnection]] between telephone company equipment and [[customer premises equipment]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} These interfaces used newly standardized jacks and plugs, primarily based on miniature [[modular connector]]s.

The wired communications provider (telephone company) is responsible for delivery of services to a minimum (or main) point of entry ([[MPOE]]). The MPOE is a utility box, usually containing surge protective circuitry, which connects the wiring on the customer's property to the communication provider's network. Customers are responsible for all jacks, wiring, and equipment on their side of the MPOE. The intent was to establish a universal standard for wiring and interfaces, and to separate ownership of in-home (or in-office) telephone wiring from the wiring owned by the service provider.

In the [[Bell System]], following the [[Communications Act of 1934]], the telephone companies owned all telecommunications equipment and they did not allow [[interconnection]] of third-party equipment. Telephones were generally hardwired, but may have been installed with Bell System connectors to permit portability. The legal case ''[[Hush-A-Phone v. United States]]'' (1956) and the [[Federal Communications Commission]]'s (FCC) ''[[Carterfone]]'' (1968) decision brought changes to this policy, and required the Bell System to allow some interconnection, culminating in the development of registered interfaces using new types of miniature connectors.

Registered jacks replaced the use of protective couplers provided exclusively by the telephone company. The new modular connectors were much smaller and cheaper to produce than the earlier, bulkier connectors that were used in the Bell System since the 1930s. The Bell System issued specifications for the modular connectors and their wiring as ''Universal Service Order Codes'' (USOC), which were the only standards at the time. Large customers of telephone services commonly use the USOC to specify the interconnection type and, when necessary, pin assignments, when placing service orders with a network provider.

When the U.S. telephone industry was reformed to foster competition in the 1980s, the connection specifications became federal law, ordered by the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), [[Title 47 CFR Part 68]], Subpart F,<ref name=FCC47Part68>[http://www.tscm.com/FCC47CFRpart68.pdf FCC 47 CFR Part 68 ''Connection of Terminal Equipment to the Telephone Network''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705131407/http://www.tscm.com/FCC47CFRpart68.pdf |date=2017-07-05 }}, Section 68.502 superseded by T1.TR5-1999</ref> superseded by T1.TR5-1999.<ref name=T1.TR5-1999 />

In January 2001, the FCC delegated responsibility for standardizing connections to the telephone network to a new private industry organization, the [[Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments]] (ACTA).<ref name=ACTAdocs>{{cite web|url=http://www.part68.org/documents.aspx|title=ACTA Documents Main - Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments|website=www.part68.org|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110055347/http://www.part68.org/documents.aspx|archive-date=10 November 2010}}</ref> For this delegation, the FCC removed Subpart F from the CFR and added Subpart G. The ACTA derives its recommendations for terminal attachments from the standards published by the engineering committees of the [[Telecommunications Industry Association]] (TIA). ACTA and TIA jointly published the standard TIA/EIA-IS-968,<ref name=tia968>[http://www.part68.org/SecureDocuments/TIA-968-A-Final.pdf TIA-968-A] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723105039/https://www.part68.org/SecureDocuments/TIA-968-A-Final.pdf |date=2011-07-23 }} or [http://www.part68.org/documents/techdocs/tia-eia-is-968.pdf tia-eia-is-968] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723105428/http://www.part68.org/documents/techdocs/tia-eia-is-968.pdf |date=2011-07-23 }} documents of [http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/part_68.html FCC] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121072503/http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/part_68.html |date=2010-11-21 }} specifications from the [http://www.part68.org/ Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422092528/http://www.part68.org/ |date=2016-04-22 }}, section 6.2 in particular</ref> replacing the CFR information.

TIA-968-A, the current version of that standard,<ref name=tia968 /> details the physical aspects of modular connectors, but not the wiring. Instead, TIA-968-A incorporates the standard T1.TR5-1999, "Network and Customer Installation Interface Connector Wiring Configuration Catalog",<ref name=T1.TR5-1999>[http://www.atis.org/docstore/product.aspx?id=25297 T1.TR5-1999] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301234004/http://www.atis.org/docstore/product.aspx?id=25297 |date=2012-03-01 }} Network and Customer Installation Interface Connector Wiring Configuration Catalog</ref> by reference. With the publication of TIA-968-B, the connector descriptions have been moved to TIA-1096-A.<ref name=ACTAdocs /> A registered jack name, such as RJ11, still identifies both the physical connectors and the wiring (pinout) for each application.