§ 51.305   Interconnection.

   (a) An incumbent LEC shall provide, for the facilities and equipment of any
   requesting telecommunications carrier, interconnection with the incumbent
   LEC's network:

   (1) For the transmission and routing of telephone exchange traffic, exchange
   access traffic, or both;

   (2) At any technically feasible point within the incumbent LEC's network
   including, at a minimum:

   (i) The line-side of a local switch;

   (ii) The trunk-side of a local switch;

   (iii) The trunk interconnection points for a tandem switch;

   (iv) Central office cross-connect points;

   (v) Out-of-band signaling transfer points necessary to exchange traffic at
   these points and access call-related databases; and

   (vi) The points of access to unbundled network elements as described in
   § 51.319;

   (3) That is at a level of quality that is equal to that which the incumbent
   LEC provides itself, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or any other party. At a
   minimum, this requires an incumbent LEC to design interconnection facilities
   to meet the same technical criteria and service standards that are used
   within the incumbent LEC's network. This obligation is not limited to a
   consideration of service quality as perceived by end users, and includes,
   but  is not limited to, service quality as perceived by the requesting
   telecommunications carrier; and

   (4) On terms and conditions that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory
   in  accordance  with  the  terms  and conditions of any agreement, the
   requirements of sections 251 and 252 of the Act, and the Commission's rules
   including, but not limited to, offering such terms and conditions equally to
   all requesting telecommunications carriers, and offering such terms and
   conditions that are no less favorable than the terms and conditions upon
   which  the incumbent LEC provides such interconnection to itself. This
   includes, but is not limited to, the time within which the incumbent LEC
   provides such interconnection.

   (b)  A carrier that requests interconnection solely for the purpose of
   originating or terminating its interexchange traffic on an incumbent LEC's
   network and not for the purpose of providing to others telephone exchange
   service,  exchange access service, or both, is not entitled to receive
   interconnection pursuant to section 251(c)(2) of the Act.

   (c) Previous successful interconnection at a particular point in a network,
   using  particular  facilities,  constitutes  substantial evidence that
   interconnection is technically feasible at that point, or at substantially
   similar points, in networks employing substantially similar facilities.
   Adherence to the same interface or protocol standards shall constitute
   evidence of the substantial similarity of network facilities.

   (d) Previous successful interconnection at a particular point in a network
   at a particular level of quality constitutes substantial evidence that
   interconnection is technically feasible at that point, or at substantially
   similar points, at that level of quality.

   (e)  An  incumbent  LEC that denies a request for interconnection at a
   particular point must prove to the state commission that interconnection at
   that point is not technically feasible.

   (f) If technically feasible, an incumbent LEC shall provide two-way trunking
   upon request.

   (g)  An incumbent LEC shall provide to a requesting telecommunications
   carrier technical information about the incumbent LEC's network facilities
   sufficient  to allow the requesting carrier to achieve interconnection
   consistent with the requirements of this section.

   [ 61 FR 45619 , Aug. 29, 1996, as amended at  61 FR 47351 , Sept. 6, 1996;  68 FR 52294 , Sept. 2, 2003]

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