Editing Local exchange carrier

{{Short description|Company that provides local phone service}}
{{unreferenced|date=February 2013}}

'''Local exchange carrier''' ('''LEC''') is a [[regulatory]] term in [[telecommunications]] for the '''local telephone company.'''

In the [[United States]], [[telephone|wireline telephone]] companies are divided into two large categories: [[long-distance calling|long-distance]] ([[interexchange carrier]], or IXCs) and local (local exchange carrier, or LECs). This structure is a result of [[Breakup of the Bell System|1984 divestiture]] of then-regulated [[monopoly]] carrier [[American Telephone & Telegraph]]. Local telephone companies at the time of the divestiture are also known as [[Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier]]s (ILEC).

The divestiture created local exchange carriers for the management of local telephone lines and switches, and provisioning of local phone services within their business area, as well as the long-distance calls originating or terminating in their business area. The vast majority of the United States are served by LECs called [[Regional Bell Operating Company|Baby Bell]]s, or [[RBOC]]s (Regional Bell Operating Companies). The rest of the United States, most commonly in rural or outlying suburban areas, are served by independent LECs, known in the industry simply as the "independents." Although [[independent telephone company|independent companies]] typically serve these areas, RBOC LECs still have vast territories of low population density regions of the country. Therefore, independents generally exist as pockets of territory within a greater RBOC region. Popular independents are [[Frontier Communications]], and [[Windstream Communications]].

[[Local call]]s are defined as calls originating and terminating within a [[local access and transport area]] (LATA) which is defined by the [[Federal Communications Commission]]. All of the Baby Bells, as well as other LECs, typically operate businesses in more than one LATA yet their services of local telephone calls are still defined by LATA boundaries, not their business areas.

==Residential local exchange services==
The following information applied to residential [[local telephone service]] in the Detroit, Michigan area during the 1970s and 1980s. Much about this subject has changed dramatically since that time, and continues to do so.

A local exchange carrier is a carrier of telephone calls and other communication services carried by telephone lines.  A local exchange is generally either an exchange within one's own LATA or in an immediately adjacent LATA. A call that is neither local nor long-distance is called a local toll call. A local exchange carrier normally sells package deals that include local and local toll calls. Local calls are customarily billed in by the call, or in blocks of calls. Residential local exchange carrier services typically charges <math>m+0.5p(q+|q-n|)</math>, where <math>m</math> is the monthly minimum and covers the first <math>n</math> calls, <math>p</math> is the price per local call, and <math>q</math> is the total quantity of calls consumed. Local toll calls are each billed at <math>m+(t-1)p</math>, where <math>m</math> is minimum charge for a local toll call, <math>p</math> is the per-minute charge, and <math>t</math> is the duration of the call in minutes. Local toll calls are traditionally grouped into two price ranges, called "near zone" and "far zone", with values of <math>m</math> and <math>p</math> higher for far zone.

==Duties==
Generally, the local exchange carrier has the following duties: 
* [[Resale]] – The duty not to prohibit, and not to impose unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or limitations on, the resale of its telecommunications services. 
* [[Local number portability|Number portability]] – The duty to provide, to the extent technically feasible, number portability in accordance with requirements prescribed by the Commission. 
* Dialing parity – The duty to provide dialing parity to competing providers of telephone exchange service and telephone toll service, and the duty to permit all such providers to have nondiscriminatory access to telephone numbers, operator services, directory assistance, and directory listing, with no unreasonable dialing delays. 
* Access to [[easement|right-of-way]] – The duty to afford access to the [[utility pole|poles]], ducts, conduits, and rights-of-way of such carrier to competing providers of telecommunications services on rates, terms, and conditions that are consistent with section 224. 
* Reciprocal compensation – The duty to establish reciprocal compensation arrangements for the transport and termination of telecommunications.

==See also==
*[[Competitive local exchange carrier]] (CLEC)
*[[LEC billing]]
*[[Circuit ID]]

==External links==
* [http://www.localcallingguide.com/ Local Calling Guide] Local calling, area code, and [[Local access and transport area|LATA]] information for Canada, the United States of America, and other countries which are part of the [[North American Numbering Plan]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090222202304/http://miraclevision.com/miracle.vision.press/telco-lec-determination.html/ Using the Local Calling Guide Instructions] (broken link 5/18/13) Using the Local Calling Guide and Google to do a phone company lookup by Zip Code instructions.

{{Telecommunications}}

[[Category:United States communications regulation]]