Legal Definitions - local-exchange carrier

A Local-Exchange Carrier (LEC) is a company or organization that provides local telephone service to customers within a specific geographic region. These carriers manage the essential infrastructure, such as wires, cables, and switching equipment, that allows people in a particular area to make and receive calls to and from other local numbers, as well as connect to long-distance and international networks. Essentially, an LEC is the primary provider of the "last mile" of telephone connectivity to homes and businesses in its service territory.

• Example 1: Traditional Landline Provider
  "ConnectTel" is a well-established telecommunications company that owns and operates the entire network of copper wires and fiber optic cables running through a major city. They provide landline phone service to most homes and businesses in that city, allowing residents to call neighbors, local businesses, and emergency services using their assigned local phone numbers.

  This illustrates an LEC because ConnectTel owns and maintains the physical infrastructure (the local-exchange network) that delivers local telephone service directly to customers within its defined urban service area.

• Example 2: Rural Cooperative
  In a sparsely populated agricultural county, the "PrairieLink Cooperative" was formed by local residents to ensure everyone had access to reliable telephone service. PrairieLink maintains the telephone poles, lines, and switching equipment that connect all the farms and small towns within the county, enabling members to communicate locally and access external networks.

  PrairieLink Cooperative functions as an LEC by providing essential local telephone service and managing the necessary network infrastructure for its members across a specific rural geographic area.

• Example 3: Modern Business Service Provider
  "MetroVoice" is a modern telecommunications company that offers local phone service to businesses in a specific downtown district. MetroVoice is responsible for connecting these businesses to the local telephone network, assigning local phone numbers, and ensuring calls can be made and received within that district and beyond, often using advanced fiber optic lines.

  MetroVoice acts as an LEC because it provides and manages the local telephone service and the necessary connections for its business customers within a defined urban area, effectively operating as the local point of access to the broader telephone system.