Virginia Administrative Code › Title 20 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION › Chapter 429 - RULES GOVERNING COMPENSATION, NUMBERING, INTERCONNECTION, AND OTHER LOCAL INTER-CARRIER MATTERS › Section 20VAC5-429-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Competitive local exchange carrier" ("CLEC") means an entity
				  other than a locality certificated to provide local exchange telecommunications
				  services in Virginia after January 1, 1996, pursuant to § 56-265.4:4 of the
				  Code of Virginia. An incumbent local exchange carrier shall be considered a
				  CLEC in any territory that is outside the territory it was certificated to
				  serve as of December 31, 1995, for which it obtains a certificate to provide
				  local exchange telecommunications services on or after January 1, 1996.
"Incumbent local exchange carrier" or "incumbent" ("ILEC")
				  means a public service company providing local exchange telecommunications
				  services in Virginia on December 31, 1995, pursuant to a certificate of public
				  convenience and necessity, or the successors to any such company.
"Interconnection" means the point of interface between local
				  exchange carriers' networks. Interconnection can be achieved at different
				  points of the network.
"Interim number portability" means the service provided in
				  lieu of true number portability. Interim solutions available from the ILEC,
				  which include remote call forwarding and direct inward dialing, enable
				  customers to change providers without the appearance of changing telephone
				  numbers but rely on the incumbent's network to process some or all
				  calls.
"Local exchange carrier" ("LEC") means a certificated
				  provider of local exchange telecommunications services, whether an incumbent or
				  new entrant.
"Local exchange telecommunications services" means local
				  exchange telephone service as defined by § 56-1 of the Code of Virginia.
"Locality" means a city, town, or county that operates an
				  electric distribution system in Virginia.
"Municipal local exchange carrier" ("MLEC") means a locality
				  certificated to provide local exchange telecommunications services pursuant to
				  § 56-265.4:4 of the Code of Virginia.
"Mutual exchange of traffic" means the reciprocal arrangement
				  by which local exchange carriers terminate the local calls of other local
				  exchange carriers' customers on their networks.
"New entrant" means a CLEC or an MLEC.
"Porting" means the act of moving an individual customer's
				  telephone number from one local exchange carrier to another carrier.
"Terminating compensation" means the payment or other
				  exchange mechanism used by a local exchange carrier for terminating the local
				  exchange traffic of another local exchange carrier.
"True number portability" means the technical capability of a
				  CLEC to allow customers to retain their telephone number when they change
				  providers (without a change in location) without reliance on calls being routed
				  through the end office where the original NXX is assigned.
"Unbundling" means the process by which a local exchange
				  telephone carrier's network is disaggregated into functional
				  components.
Statutory Authority
§§ 12.1-13 and 56-265.4:4 of the Code of Virginia.