§  69.2   Definitions.

   For purposes of the part:

   (a) Access minutes or Access minutes of use is that usage of exchange
   facilities in interstate or foreign service for the purpose of
   calculating chargeable usage. On the originating end of an interstate
   or foreign call, usage is to be measured from the time the originating
   end user's call is delivered by the telephone company and acknowledged
   as received by the interexchange carrier's facilities connected with
   the originating exchange. On the terminating end of an interstate or
   foreign call, usage is to be measured from the time the call is
   received by the end user in the terminating exchange. Timing of usage
   at both the originating and terminating end of an interstate or foreign
   call shall terminate when the calling or called party disconnects,
   whichever event is recognized first in the originating and terminating
   end exchanges, as applicable.

   (b) Access service includes services and facilities provided for the
   origination or termination of any interstate or foreign
   telecommunication.

   (c) Annual revenue requirement means the sum of the return component
   and the expense component.

   (d) Association means the telephone company association described in
   subpart G of this part.

   (e) Big Three Expenses are the combined expense groups comprising:
   Plant Specific Operations Expense, Accounts 6110, 6120, 6210, 6220,
   6230, 6310 and 6410; Plant Nonspecific Operations Expenses, Accounts
   6510, 6530 and 6540, and Customer Operations Expenses, Accounts 6610
   and 6620.

   (f) Big Three Expense Factors are the ratios of the sum of Big Three
   Expenses apportioned to each element or category to the combined Big
   Three Expenses.

   (g) Cable and wire facilities includes all equipment or facilities that
   are described as cable and wire facilities in the Separations Manual
   and included in Account 2410.

   (h) Carrier cable and wire facilities means all cable and wire
   facilities that are not subscriber line cable and wire facilities.

   (i) Central Office Equipment or COE includes all equipment or
   facilities that are described as Central Office Equipment in the
   Separations Manual and included in Accounts 2210, 2220 and 2230.

   (j) Corporate operations expenses are included in General and
   Administrative Expenses (Account 6720).

   (k) Customer operations expenses include Marketing and Services
   expenses in Accounts 6610 and 6620, respectively.

   (l) Direct expense means expenses that are attributable to a particular
   category or categories of tangible investment described in subpart D of
   this part and includes:

   (1) Plant Specific Operations expenses in Accounts 6110, 6120, 6210,
   6220, 6230, 6310 and 6410; and

   (2) Plant Nonspecific Operations Expenses in Accounts 6510, 6530, 6540
   and 6560.

   (m) End user means any customer of an interstate or foreign
   telecommunications service that is not a carrier except that a carrier
   other than a telephone company shall be deemed to be an “end user” when
   such carrier uses a telecommunications service for administrative
   purposes and a person or entity that offers telecommunications services
   exclusively as a reseller shall be deemed to be an “end user” if all
   resale transmissions offered by such reseller originate on the premises
   of such reseller.

   (n) Entry switch means the telephone company switch in which a
   transport line or trunk terminates.

   (o) Expense component means the total expenses and income charges for
   an annual period that are attributable to a particular element or
   category.

   (p) Expenses include allowable expenses in the Uniform System of
   Accounts, part 32, apportioned to interstate or international services
   pursuant to the Separations Manual and allowable income charges
   apportioned to interstate and international services pursuant to the
   Separations Manual.

   (q) General support facilities include buildings, land, vehicles,
   aircraft, work equipment, furniture, office equipment and general
   purpose computers as described in the Separations Manual and included
   in Account 2110.

   (r) Information origination/termination equipment includes all
   equipment or facilities that are described as information
   origination/termination equipment in the Separations Manual and in
   Account 2310 except information origination/termination equipment that
   is used by telephone companies in their own operations.

   (s) Interexchange or the interexchange category includes services or
   facilities provided as an integral part of interstate or foreign
   telecommunications that is not described as “access service” for
   purposes of this part.

   (t) Level I Contributors. Telephone companies that are not association
   Common Line tariff participants, file their own Common Line tariffs
   effective April 1, 1989, and had a lower than average Common Line
   revenue requirement per minute of use in 1988 and thus were net
   contributors ( i.e., had a negative net balance) to the association
   Common Line pool in 1988.

   (u) Level I Receivers. Telephone companies that are not association
   Common Line tariff participants, file their own Common Line tariffs
   effective April 1, 1989, and had a higher than average Common Line
   revenue requirement per minute of use in 1988 and thus were net
   receivers ( i.e., had a positive net balance) from the association
   Common Line Pool in 1988.

   (v) Level II Contributors. A telephone company or group of affiliated
   telephone companies with fewer than 300,000 access lines and less than
   $150 million in annual operating revenues that is not an association
   Common Line tariff participant, that files its own Common Line tariff
   effective July 1, 1990, and that had a lower than average Common Line
   revenue requirement per minute of use in 1988 and thus was a net
   contributor (i.e., had a negative net balance) to the association
   Common Line pool in 1988.

   (w) Level II Receivers. A telephone company or group of affiliated
   telephone companies with fewer than 300,000 access lines and less than
   $150 million in annual operating revenues that is not an association
   Common Line tariff participant, that files its own Common Line tariff
   effective July 1, 1990, and that had a higher than average Common Line
   revenue requirement per minute of use in 1988 and thus was a net
   receiver (i.e., had a positive net balance) from the association Common
   Line pool in 1988.

   (x) Line or Trunk includes, but is not limited to, transmission media
   such as radio, satellite, wire, cable and fiber optic cable means of
   transmission.

   (y) Long term support (LTS) means funds that are provided pursuant to
   § 54.303 of part 54.

   (z) Net investment means allowable original cost investment in Accounts
   2001 through 2003, 1220 and the investments in nonaffiliated companies
   included in Account 1410, that has been apportioned to interstate and
   foreign services pursuant to the Separations Manual from which
   depreciation, amortization and other reserves attributable to such
   investment that has been apportioned to interstate and foreign services
   pursuant to the Separations Manual have been subtracted and to which
   working capital that is attributable to interstate and foreign services
   has been added.

   (aa) Operating taxes include all taxes in Account 7200;

   (bb) Origination of a service that is switched in a Class 4 switch or
   an interexchange switch that performs an equivalent function ends when
   the transmission enters such switch and termination of such a service
   begins when the transmission leaves such a switch, except that;

   (1) Switching in a Class 4 switch or transmission between Class 4
   switches that is not deemed to be interexchange for purposes of the
   Modified Final Judgement entered August 24, 1982, in United States v
   Western Electric Co., D.C. Civil Action No. 82–0192, will be
   “origination” or “termination” for purposes of this part; and

   (2) Origination and Termination does not include the use of any part of
   a line, trunk or switch that is not owned or leased by a telephone
   company.

   (cc) Origination of any service other than a service that is switched
   in a Class 4 switch or a switch that performs an equivalent function
   ends and “termination” of any such service begins at a point of
   demarcation that corresponds with the point of demarcation that is used
   for a service that is switched in a Class 4 switch or a switch that
   performs an equivalent function.

   (dd) Private line means a line that is used exclusively for an
   interexchange service other than MTS, WATS or an MTS-WATS equivalent
   service, including a line that is used at the closed end of an FX WATS
   or CCSA service or any service that is substantially equivalent to a
   CCSA service.

   (ee) Public telephone is a telephone provided by a telephone company
   through which an end user may originate interstate or foreign
   telecommunications for which he pays with coins or by credit card,
   collect or third number billing procedures.

   (ff) Return component means net investment attributable to a particular
   element or category multiplied by the authorized annual rate of return.

   (gg) Subscriber line cable and wire facilities means all lines or
   trunks on the subscriber side of a Class 5 or end office switch,
   including lines or trunks that do not terminate in such a switch,
   except lines or trunks that connect an interexchange carrier.

   (hh) Telephone company or Local exchange carrier as used in this part
   means an incumbent local exchange carrier as defined in section
   251(h)(1) of the 1934 Act as amended by the 1996 Act.

   (ii) Transitional support (TRS) means funds provided by telephone
   companies that are not association Common Line tariff participants, but
   were net contributors to the association Common Line pool in 1988, to
   telephone companies that are not association Common Line tariff
   participants and were net receivers from the association Common Line
   pool in 1988.

   (jj) Unit of capacity means the capability to transmit one
   conversation.

   (kk) WATS access line means a line or trunk that is used exclusively
   for WATS service.

   (ll) Equal access investment and equal access expenses mean equal
   access investment and expenses as defined for purposes of the part 36
   separations rules.

   (mm) Basic service elements are optional unbundled features that
   enhanced service providers may require or find useful in the provision
   of enhanced services, as defined in Amendments of part 69 of the
   Commission's rules relating to the Creation of Access Charge
   Subelements for Open Network Architecture, Report and Order, 6 FCC Rcd
   ____, CC Docket No. 89–79, FCC 91–186 (1991).

   (nn) Dedicated signalling transport means transport of out-of-band
   signalling information between an interexchange carrier or other
   person's common channel signalling network and a telephone company's
   signalling transport point on facilities dedicated to the use of a
   single customer.

   (oo) Direct-trunked transport means transport on circuits dedicated to
   the use of a single interexchange carrier or other person, without
   switching at the tandem,

   (1) Between the serving wire center and the end office, or

   (2) Between two customer-designated telephone company offices.

   (pp) End office means the telephone company office from which the end
   user receives exchange service.

   (qq) Entrance facilities means transport from the interexchange carrier
   or other person's point of demarcation to the serving wire center.

   (rr) Serving wire center means the telephone company central office
   designated by the telephone company to serve the geographic area in
   which the interexchange carrier or other person's point of demarcation
   is located.

   (ss) Tandem-switched transport means transport of traffic that is
   switched at a tandem switch—

   (1) Between the serving wire center and the end office, or

   (2) Between the telephone company office containing the tandem
   switching equipment, as described in § 36.124 of this chapter, and the
   end office.

   Tandem-switched transport between a serving wire center and an end
   office consists of circuits dedicated to the use of a single
   interexchange carrier or other person from the serving wire center to
   the tandem (although this dedicated link will not exist if the serving
   wire center and the tandem are located in the same place) and circuits
   used in common by multiple interexchange carriers or other persons from
   the tandem to the end office.

   (tt) [Reserved]

   (uu) Price cap regulation means the method of regulation of dominant
   carriers provided in § § 61.41 through 61.49 of this chapter.

   (vv) Signalling for tandem switching means the carrier identification
   code (CIC) and the OZZ code, or equivalent information needed to
   perform tandem switching functions. The CIC identifies the
   interexchange carrier and the OZZ identifies the interexchange carrier
   trunk to which traffic should be routed.

   (ww) Interstate common line support (ICLS) means funds that are
   provided pursuant to § 54.901 of this chapter.

   [ 52 FR 37309 , Oct. 6, 1987, as amended at  53 FR 28395 , July 28, 1988;
    53 FR 30059 , Aug. 10, 1988;  54 FR 3456 , Jan. 24, 1989;  54 FR 11718 ,
   Mar. 22, 1989;  55 FR 6990 , Feb. 28, 1990;  56 FR 33880 , July 24, 1991;
    57 FR 54719 , Nov. 20, 1992;  58 FR 41189 , Aug. 3, 1993;  59 FR 32930 ,
   June 27, 1994;  62 FR 31932 , June 11, 1997;  62 FR 32962 , June 17, 1997;
    64 FR 46593 , Aug. 26, 1999;  66 FR 59730 , Nov. 30, 2001;  67 FR 5703 ,
   Feb. 6, 2002]