As a result of the break-up of AT&T in 1984 and the market-opening provisions of theTelecommunications Act of 1996, the telecommunications service provider industry has changed dramatically. The breakup of AT&T produced the advent of the Bell Telephone companies, with each telephone company responsible for a specific regional service area in the United States. A decade later, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 imposed deregulation upon the industry and paved the way for the entry of many additional independent carriers.
A large number of telecommunications service providers, also called carriers, are currently offering services and products for Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs). These carriers consist of Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs), Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), Inter-Exchange Carriers (IXPs), and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
BuyTelco.com enables you to easily and objectively choose the carrier that is best for your business location and particular needs. Here are some facts and valuable information on the carriers that will be providing services in your area and region of the United States.
Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs)The Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened the door for new telecom service providers, known as Competitive Local Exchange carriers (CLECs), to provide telecommunications services and products. CLECs sell services such as phone service, Internet access and voice/data services and products to homes and SMBs. CLECs include Covad, Rhythms, NorthPoint, Universal Access and Network Access Solutions. Other well-known CLECs include Intermedia, Allegiance Telecom, NextLink, and Hyperion. These companies provide special voice and data services products for home and business applications. Some of them offer complex network technologies.
Incumbent Local Exchange CarriersThe breakup of AT&T created the need for regional telephone companies known as Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs), to provide telecommunications services and products. ILECs sell services such as phone service, Internet access and voice/data services and products to homes and SMBs. These regional companies are known in the industry as the RBOCs. The Regional Bell Operating Companies are premier providers of advanced voice/fax, video, data and wireless services. Each RBOC has a wide array of competitive, cost-effective services and products to fulfill your current and future SMB telecom needs.
ILECs include the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). RBOCS are comprised of Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell and US West. ILECs also include GTE. These companies provide local phone service. They also provide special voice/fax and data communications services and products for home and business applications.
Inter-Exchange CarriersWhen long distance competition opened up after the 1984 AT&T breakup, many new companies started to sell services. The best known of these are MCI and Sprint. They originally started selling basic long distance service but then migrated to local voice services and private data lines. Today, IXCs still sell long distance; however, their service portfolios include voice, data, Internet and wireless services. Some well known IXCs include MCI Worldcomm, Sprint, and Qwest.
Internet Service ProvidersThe earliest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were America Online, CompuServe, and Prodigy. They primarily sold subscriptions to private content networks. With the advent of the World Wide Web, many new companies found a market selling basic Dial-Up access. These new ISPs moved up the value chain by selling dedicated Internet Access, Hosting, managed network services, and e-commerce. Today, some ISPs are now beginning to sell basic telephone service with the advent of DSL rollouts. Some well known ISPs include PSINet, Verio, EarthLink,and UUNet.
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