Illinois Administrative Code › Title 83 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part 737 - STANDARDS OF SERVICE AND CUSTOMER CREDITS FOR ELECTING PROVIDERS AND COMPETITIVE NON-ELECTING PROVIDERS › Subpart A - GENERAL › Section 737.110 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
As used in this Part, the following terms shall have these
				  definitions:
"Access line" means the connecting facility between a customer's
				  premises network interface device and the Local Provider's facility that provides
				  access to the switching network for local exchange and interexchange
				  telecommunications service. This includes the network interface or equivalent, the
				  outside plant facilities, the office frame and frame wiring and the office line
				  termination.
"Act" means the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5 ].
"Analog" means a continuous electrical signal that carries
				  information by means of variations in its amplitude or frequency. The electrical
				  signal being transmitted varies in direct relation to the signal generated by the
				  source.
"Application" means a verbal or written request for a
				  telecommunications service.
"Appointment" means an arrangement made by a telecommunications
				  carrier to meet a customer to address an installation or repair situation. The
				  appointment window shall be either a specific time or, at a maximum, a 4-hour time
				  block during evening, weekend and normal business hours. (See
				  220 ILCS
				  5/13-506.2(e)(1)(C).)
"Basic local exchange service" means
either a stand-alone
				  residence network access line and per-call usage or, for any geographic area which
				  such stand-alone service is not offered, a stand-alone flat rate residence network
				  access line for which local calls are not charged for frequency or duration.
				  Extended Area Service shall be included in basic local exchange service.
[220 ILCS 5/13-506.2(a)(2)]
				  Pursuant to Section 13-506.2(e)(1) of the Act, as used in this Part, "basic local
				  exchange service" also includes the consumer choice safe harbor options that
				  Electing Providers are required to offer to residential customers under Section
				  13-506.2(d) of the Act.
"Basic local exchange service installation" means the installation
				  of basic local exchange service in which the physical connecting and diagnostic
				  testing of a local loop results in the provisioning of dial tone to the requesting
				  customer's network interface device. It includes move orders and orders for
				  additional lines.
"Busy hour" means the 2 consecutive half-hours each day during
				  which the greatest volume of traffic is handled.
"Calls" means customers' messages attempted.
"Central office" means the site at which switching equipment is
				  located. A local central office, also called an end office, is the switching office
				  where an individual subscriber's access lines appear. It houses the equipment that
				  receives calls transmitted on the local loop and routes the call over the switched
				  network either directly to the person called, if the call is placed to a location
				  served by the same local central office, or to another central office, if the call
				  is placed to a customer served by a different central office. Each central office
				  serves local loops in an exclusive geographical area.
"Certificate of service authority" means the authorization by the
				  Illinois Commerce Commission (Commission) granting a telecommunications carrier the
				  right to provide telecommunications services within a specified geographical
				  area.
"Channel" means a single path between 2 or more points provided
				  for transport of user information and/or signaling for a communications
				  service.
"Competitive Non-Electing Provider" means a provider, other than
				  an Electing Provider, of telecommunications services classified as competitive
				  pursuant to Section 13-502 or 13-506.2(c)(5) of the Act.
"Customer" or "end user" means a residential retail customer
				  purchasing basic local exchange service.
"Customer premises equipment" or "CPE" means equipment employed on
				  the premises of a person (other than a carrier) to originate, route or terminate
				  telecommunications. Customer premises equipment includes customer premises
				  wire.
"Customer premises wire" or "inside wire" means any wire,
				  including interface equipment, on the customer side of the network interface or
				  equivalent.
"Customer trouble report" means any verbal or written report
				  relating to difficulty or dissatisfaction with the operation of regulated
				  telecommunications services. One report shall be counted for a verbal or written
				  report received. When several items are reported by one customer at the same time,
				  and the group of troubles so reported is clearly related to a common cause, they are
				  counted as one report.
"dBrnc" means a measure of the interfering effect of noise.
"Decibel" or "dB" means a standard unit used for expressing a
				  transmission signal gain or loss.
"Dial tone" means an audible tone sent from an automatic switching
				  system to a customer to indicate the equipment is ready to receive dial
				  signals.
"Digital" means a signal that carries information by discrete
				  changes in its parameters. For digital transmission of analog information, the
				  incoming voice, data or video signals are sampled periodically and digitally coded
				  for transport through the network.
"Electing Provider" has the same meaning as "Electing Provider"
				  defined in Section 13-506.2(a)(1) of the Act.
"Emergency situation" means an emergency situation as that term is
				  defined in 83 Ill. Adm. Code
				  732.10.
"Exchange area" means a unit established by a Local Provider and
				  approved by the Commission for the administration of telecommunications service in a
				  specified geographical area. It may consist of one or more central offices together
				  with associated plant used in furnishing telecommunications services in that area.
				  Exchange areas are identified on exchange boundary maps on file with the
				  Commission.
"Installation trouble report" means any network trouble report
				  filed within 7 days after the completion of a basic local exchange service
				  installation on the same line.
"Interoffice trunk" means a communication path between 2 central
				  offices.
"Line" means the conductor or conductors, supporting circuit
				  equipment, and structures extending between customer network interfaces and central
				  offices, or between central offices, whether they be in the same or different
				  communities.
"Local exchange carrier" means a telecommunications carrier
				  certificated by the Commission to provide intra-exchange and/or inter-exchange
				  service within the same market service area.
"Local exchange service" means the same as "local exchange
				  telecommunications service" as defined in Section 13-204 of the Act.
"Local exchange service area" means the area in which
				  telecommunications service is furnished to customers under a specific schedule of
				  rates and without toll charges. A local exchange service area may include one or
				  more exchange areas or portions of exchange areas.
"Local loop" means a channel between a customer's network
				  interface and its serving central office.
"Local Provider" means an Electing Provider or Competitive
				  Non-Electing Provider.
"Map" means a drawing showing a geographical area in which a Local
				  Provider furnishes telecommunications services.
"Message" means a completed customer call.
"Network" means the aggregate of transmission systems and
				  switching systems. It is an arrangement of channels, such as loops, trunks and
				  associated switching facilities.
"Network interface" means the point of termination on the customer
				  premises at which the Local Provider's responsibility for the provision and
				  maintenance of network channel or line service ends. The network interface is part
				  of the network and the order of appearance of central office lines on it is
				  determined solely by the Local Provider.
"Noise to Ground" or "Ng" means the noise measured between ground
				  and the tip and ring conductors. The customer does not hear the noise to ground, but
				  the amount of noise to ground affects the amount of noise metallic that a customer
				  hears.
"Noise metallic" or "Nm" means the noise measured across the tip
				  and ring of a circuit and is the noise that the customer hears.
"Out of Service > 30 Hours" means that 30 hours after reporting
				  an out-of-service condition to the Local Provider, the customer still has no dial
				  tone, or cannot be called, or cannot call out. This term excludes call blocking or
				  any other intentional alteration to an end user's calling or call receiving
				  ability.
"Outside plant" means the telecommunications equipment and
				  facilities installed on, along, over, or under streets, alleys, highways, or on
				  private rights-of-way between the central office and customer locations or between
				  central offices.
"Premises" means the space occupied in a single local exchange
				  area by a customer in a building or in adjoining buildings not separated by a public
				  thoroughfare or in a public office building in which the customer's office space is
				  all contiguous.
"Simplex Condition" - Equipment that is deployed in a two-sided,
				  redundant configuration and that has both sides running normally is considered to be
				  in duplex mode. When one side is down and the redundancy is lost, it is considered
				  to be in a simplex condition.
"Telecommunications service" has the same meaning ascribed to that
				  term in Section 13-203 of Act.
"Traffic" means call volume based on number and duration of
				  messages.
"Transmission" means the process of sending information from one
				  point to another.
"Trouble report" means any customer complaint to the Local
				  Provider regarding the operation of the network affecting its basic local exchange
				  service, including both service-affecting conditions or out-of-service
				  conditions.
"Trunk" means a transmission path between switching units,
				  switching centers and/or toll centers.
"Working line" means an active access line or
				  channel.