Unbundled Network Elements (UNE) was mandated by the United States Telecommunications Act of 1996. Basically, it means that Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) (the phone companies) (Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink) are required to let other companies resell parts of their networks. A Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (the phone company’s competitor) (XO,…
Many people believe that the telecom industry became competitive when Divestiture occurred in 1984. But competition wasn’t truly realized until 1996, when Local Number Portability was mandated by the FCC. Here are 5 keys to competition in the telecom industry: Number Portability – Number Portability allows a business to retain…
Last week we listed the advantages an Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (the Phone Company) has over its competitors. This week we’re covering the advantages the Competitive Local Exchange Carriers have over the incumbents. Competitor Advantages: The incumbent is almost always more expensive: Incumbents charge more because they have to and…
In every area of the country there is an incumbent phone company that owns the local phone network. In larger cities, smaller phone companies, called Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) lease part of the incumbent’s network to deliver phone and internet services to local businesses. So, in every major city…
Frequently, when talking to a client for the first time, they express the opinion that the phone company is their only option for cheap telecom internet services. Basically, they believe that any other telecom company approaching them is only going to add to the cost of their services. In fact,…
The local loop, or last mile, is the stretch of cable that runs from a customer’s premise to a carrier’s point of presence. It’s typically provided by the incumbent phone company that services a given area. The local phone company, Verizon, AT&T and Qwest (CenturyLink) for example, have agreements with…
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