§ 69.106   Local switching.

   (a) Except as provided in § 69.118, charges that are expressed in
   dollars and cents per access minute of use shall be assessed by local
   exchange carriers that are not subject to price cap regulation upon all
   interexchange carriers that use local exchange switching facilities for
   the provision of interstate or foreign services.

   (b) The per minute charge described in paragraph (a) of this section
   shall be computed by dividing the projected annual revenue requirement
   for the Local Switching element, excluding any local switching support
   received by the carrier pursuant to § 54.301 of this chapter, by the
   projected annual access minutes of use for all interstate or foreign
   services that use local exchange switching facilities.

   (c) If end users of an interstate or foreign service that uses local
   switching facilities pay message unit charges for such calls in a
   particular exchange, a credit shall be deducted from the Local
   Switching element charges to such carrier for access service in such
   exchange. The per minute credit for each such exchange shall be
   multiplied by the monthly access minutes for such service to compute
   the monthly credit to such a carrier.

   (d) If all local exchange subscribers in such exchange pay message unit
   charges, the per minute credit described in paragraph (c) of this
   section shall be computed by dividing total message unit charges to all
   subscribers in a particular exchange in a representative month by the
   total minutes of use that were measured for purposes of computing
   message unit charges in such month.

   (e) If some local exchange subscribers pay message unit charges and
   some do not, a per minute credit described in paragraph (c) of this
   section shall be computed by multiplying a credit computed pursuant to
   paragraph (d) of this section by a factor that is equal to total
   minutes measured in such month for purposes of computing message unit
   charges divided by the total local exchange minutes in such month.

   (f) Except as provided in § 69.118, price cap local exchange carriers
   shall establish rate elements for local switching as follows:

   (1) Price cap local exchange carriers shall separate from the projected
   annual revenues for the Local Switching element those costs projected
   to be incurred for ports (including cards and DS1/voice-grade
   multiplexers required to access end offices equipped with analog
   switches) on the trunk side of the local switch. Price cap local
   exchange carriers shall further identify costs incurred for dedicated
   trunk ports separately from costs incurred for shared trunk ports.

   (i) Price cap local exchange carriers shall recover dedicated trunk
   port costs identified pursuant to paragraph (f)(1) of this section
   through flat-rated charges expressed in dollars and cents per trunk
   port and assessed upon the purchaser of the dedicated trunk terminating
   at the port.

   (ii) Price cap local exchange carriers shall recover shared trunk port
   costs identified pursuant to paragraph (f)(1) of this section through
   charges assessed upon purchasers of shared transport. This charge shall
   be expressed in dollars and cents per access minute of use. The charge
   shall be computed by dividing the projected costs of the shared ports
   by the historical annual access minutes of use calculated for purposes
   of recovery of common transport costs in § 69.111(c).

   (2) Price cap local exchange carriers shall recover the projected
   annual revenues for the Local Switching element that are not recovered
   in paragraph (f)(1) of this section through charges that are expressed
   in dollars and cents per access minute of use and assessed upon all
   interexchange carriers that use local exchange switching facilities for
   the provision of interstate or foreign services. The maximum charge
   shall be computed by dividing the projected remainder of the annual
   revenues for the Local Switching element by the historical annual
   access minutes of use for all interstate or foreign services that use
   local exchange switching facilities.

   (g) A local exchange carrier may recover signaling costs associated
   with call setup through a call setup charge imposed upon all interstate
   interexchange carriers that use that local exchange carrier's
   facilities to originate or terminate interstate interexchange or
   foreign services. This charge must be expressed as dollars and cents
   per call attempt and may be assessed on originating calls handed off to
   the interexchange carrier's point of presence and on terminating calls
   received from an interexchange carrier's point of presence, whether or
   not that call is completed at the called location. Local exchange
   carriers may not recover through this charge any costs recovered
   through other rate elements.

   (h) Except as provided in § 69.118, non-price cap local exchange
   carriers may establish rate elements for local switching as follows:

   (1) Non-price cap local exchange carriers may separate from the
   projected annual revenue requirement for the Local Switching element
   those costs projected to be incurred for ports (including cards and
   DS1/voice-grade multiplexers required to access end offices equipped
   with analog switches) on the trunk side of the local switch. Non-price
   cap local exchange carriers electing to assess these charges shall
   further identify costs incurred for dedicated trunk ports separately
   from costs incurred for shared trunk ports.

   (i) Non-price cap local exchange carriers electing to assess trunk port
   charges shall recover dedicated trunk port costs identified pursuant to
   paragraph (h)(1) of this section through flat-rated charges expressed
   in dollars and cents per trunk port and assessed upon the purchaser of
   the dedicated trunk terminating at the port.

   (ii) Non-price cap local exchange carriers electing to assess trunk
   port charges shall recover shared trunk port costs identified pursuant
   to paragraph (h)(1) of this section through charges assessed upon
   purchasers of shared transport. This charge shall be expressed in
   dollars and cents per access minute of use. The charge shall be
   computed by dividing the projected costs of the shared ports by the
   historical annual access minutes of use calculated for purposes of
   recovery of common transport costs in § 69.111(c).

   (2) Non-price cap local exchange carriers shall recover the projected
   annual revenue requirement for the Local Switching element that are not
   recovered in paragraph (h)(1) of this section through charges that are
   expressed in dollars and cents per access minute of use and assessed
   upon all interexchange carriers that use local exchange switching
   facilities for the provision of interstate or foreign services. The
   maximum charge shall be computed by dividing the projected remainder of
   the annual revenue requirement for the Local Switching element by the
   historical annual access minutes of use for all interstate or foreign
   services that use local exchange switching facilities.

   [ 52 FR 37310 , Oct. 6, 1987, as amended at  56 FR 33881 , July 24, 1991;
    62 FR 31933 , June 11, 1997;  62 FR 40463 , July 29, 1997;  66 FR 59731 ,
   Nov. 30, 2001]

   return arrow Back to Top