Illinois Administrative Code › Title 83 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part 790 - INTERCONNECTION › Subpart D - SPECIAL ACCESS AND PRIVATE LINE INTERCONNECTION AND SWITCHED TRANSPORT INTERCONNECTION › Section 790.420 - Special Access and Private Line Interconnection - Pricing and Rate Structure Issues

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Cross-connect charge.
				Prices for the connection charge shall equal or exceed the long-run service
				incremental costs (LRSIC) of providing the service.
b) Contribution charge. The LECs are prohibited
				from recovering a contribution charge from telecommunications carriers and end users
				unless approved by the Commission as provided in this subsection. The LEC may
				petition for, and the Commission shall approve, a contribution charge if, after
				hearings, the Commission finds that the LEC has demonstrated a need for a
				contribution charge. Any contribution charge permitted under this Section shall only
				recover specifically identified subsidies or non-cost based allocations embedded in
				rates for special access or private line.
c) There is no requirement through this Part to
				provide price parity between physical and virtual collocation
				arrangements.
d) LEC special access or
				private line offerings.
1) Pricing and rate
				structure flexibility for LEC special access or private line offerings. LECs with
				operational expanded interconnection offerings may petition the Commission to
				receive approval to implement a system of traffic density-related and cost-based
				zones for special access or private line services classified as noncompetitive
				services as defined in the Act. Rates within each zone must be averaged within each
				zone, but rates may differ for special access services between zones. Rates shall be
				based on average LRSIC within each zone.
2) Volume and term discounts.
A) LEC customers with long-term access
				arrangements of three years or more, as provided in the FCC Expanded Interconnection
				Rule (CC Docket No. 91-141, FCC 92-440 (rel. October 19, 1992)), may review these
				arrangements. These long-term arrangements must have been entered into on or before
				September 17, 1992.
B) The right to end
				a long-term arrangement at a specific location will exist for a period of 180 days
				from the date the first cross-connect is operational in that location. Within five
				business days from the date on which the first expanded interconnection arrangement
				becomes operational in that location, the LEC shall file with the Commission a
				tariff transmittal stating that the fresh look period will begin to run as of the
				date the notice is filed with the Commission. If a party chooses to terminate a
				long-term arrangement within this period, the termination charge will be limited.
				The LEC may not charge more than the difference between the amount the customer has
				already paid and any additional charges that the customer would have paid for
				service if the customer had taken a shorter term offering corresponding to the term
				actually used, plus interest at the prime rate. Interest rates are to be adjusted to
				reflect changes in the prime rate and will apply to the balances due under the
				recalculation as they would have accrued over time.
C) Reconfiguration charges must be applied in a
				neutral manner that does not discriminate based on whether the customer chooses to
				use an alternate provider's facility or LEC facility for special access or private
				line service, unless there are specific, identifiable cost differences. All
				nonrecurring charges applicable to a customer's shifting to an alternate provider's
				services are to be set no higher than cost-based levels. In addition, the difference
				between the charges applicable when a customer shifts to an alternate provider's
				services and those applicable when a customer reconfigures its service with the LEC
				must be cost-based. The customer is entitled to the limitation on the termination
				charges even if it does not terminate service under the long-term arrangement with
				the LEC until after the 180-day period has expired.
D) Rates contained in tariffs that include volume
				and term discounts shall be cost-based.
3) Distance sensitivity. Rate elements contained
				in the tariffs that are based on distance sensitivity must be cost-based.