Service Provider Types
Unit 2 Assignment 1
Service Provider Types
· RBOCS: Regional Bell Operating Companies is one of the local exchange carriers created by the breakup of AT&T in 1983. The number of RBOCs has shrunk through mergers since then from seven to just four: Verizon, Qwest, BellSouth and SBC. They compete for local business with CLECs. RBOCs were originally allowed to offer services only within specific regional areas, or LATAs. Under the terms of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, they are allowed to move into long distance and compete with interexechange carriers as they prove to state and federal agencies that they have opened their local markets to competition.
· ILEC: An ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) is a telephone company in the U.S. that was providing local service when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was enacted. ILECs include the former Bell operating companies (BOCs). A "local exchange" is the local "central office" of an ILEC. Lines from homes and businesses terminate at a local exchange. Local exchanges connect to other local exchanges within a local access and transport area (LATA) or to interexchange carriers (IXC) such as long-distance carriers AT&T, MCI, and Sprint.
· CLEC: CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) is a telephone company that competes with the already established local telephone business by providing its own network and switching. The term distinguishes new or potential competitors from established local exchange carriers (LECs) and arises from the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was intended to promote competition between both long-distance and local phone service providers.
· MSO: A multiple-system operator or multi-system operator (MSO) is an operator of multiple cable or direct-broadcast satellite television systems. A cable system in the United States, by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition, is a facility serving a single community or a distinct governmental entity, each with
Service Provider Types
· RBOCS: Regional Bell Operating Companies is one of the local exchange carriers created by the breakup of AT&T in 1983. The number of RBOCs has shrunk through mergers since then from seven to just four: Verizon, Qwest, BellSouth and SBC. They compete for local business with CLECs. RBOCs were originally allowed to offer services only within specific regional areas, or LATAs. Under the terms of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, they are allowed to move into long distance and compete with interexechange carriers as they prove to state and federal agencies that they have opened their local markets to competition.
· ILEC: An ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) is a telephone company in the U.S. that was providing local service when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was enacted. ILECs include the former Bell operating companies (BOCs). A "local exchange" is the local "central office" of an ILEC. Lines from homes and businesses terminate at a local exchange. Local exchanges connect to other local exchanges within a local access and transport area (LATA) or to interexchange carriers (IXC) such as long-distance carriers AT&T, MCI, and Sprint.
· CLEC: CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) is a telephone company that competes with the already established local telephone business by providing its own network and switching. The term distinguishes new or potential competitors from established local exchange carriers (LECs) and arises from the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was intended to promote competition between both long-distance and local phone service providers.
· MSO: A multiple-system operator or multi-system operator (MSO) is an operator of multiple cable or direct-broadcast satellite television systems. A cable system in the United States, by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition, is a facility serving a single community or a distinct governmental entity, each with