R746-356-3. Equal Access Implementation

A. Implementation -- LECs shall proceed to implement intraLATA equal access, using the 2-PIC method, in accordance with the following criteria:

1. Any LEC that has an equal access implementation plan approved by the Commission shall comply with and maintain equal access in accordance with its approved plan as amended or modified withCommission approval.

2. Any LEC that does not have an equal access implementation plan approved by the Commission will respond to a bona fide request, or on its own initiative, by filing an implementation plan with the Commission within 30 days.

a. The target date for implementation shall be no later than seven months from the date of receipt of the bona fide request.

b. Copies of the plan shall be mailed to the requesting telecommunications carrier, all other carriers subscribing to the LEC's interLATA equal access service, the Commission, and the Division.

3. A LEC can request a temporary waiver of the requirement to implement intraLATA equal access for one or more of its exchange areas, when it can prove that it does not have the technical or economic abilities to provide intraLATA equal access service.

a. The Commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing, may grant a waiver upon a showing of a lack of technical or economic ability.

b. When a LEC receives a waiver it shall implement interLATA and IntraLATA equal access by the date established in the Commission waiver.

B. Approval of Equal Access Plans -- The Commission will assign each LEC equal access plan a docket number and issue a notice of the proceeding to all parties on its telecommunications list.

1. The Commission shall approve each plan within 45 days of the filed date, unless hearings are required to approve the implementation plan.

2. The plan target date(s) will be automatically extended by the number of days in excess of 45 required to finally approve a plan.

C. Exemption of Toll Services -- A LEC shall continue to provide retail toll services as a carrier of last resort for its own certified territory, or as a PIC for its own certified territory, until an order of exemption is issued by the Commission.

D. Continued Services -- LECs will continue to provide services for customer dialed number protocols 0-, Nll, 411,611, 911, and 976. These numbers are not equal access and call routing will continue to be processed unchanged by the LEC following the implementation of intraLATA equal access. Calls using customer dialed protocols, such as 500, 700, 800, 900, 10356, and 101356X, are not subject to presubscription and they will continue to be routed to the appropriate non-equal access carrier.

E. Routing Interface Signaling -- All carriers shall establish uniform end-to-end message routing interface signaling that includes at least the carrier identification code (CIC), originating line or trunk telephone number, and terminating line or trunk telephone number. This requirement is to permit direct billing to the responsible carrier(s) for use of the switched access network elements provided by other carriers.