Local phone service providers now in L.A.

There was a time recently when Los Angeles County businesses did not have a choice of what local telephone company they wanted to use. If there was a problem with their existing service or they wanted to order new service, they had to contact the local monopoly, in most cases this was Pacific Bell or GTE.

Times have changed!!! In 1996, Congress passed the Local Telcom Act. This competitively charged covenant opened up the local telephone business, forcing the monopolies to give up the strangle hold they had on the local telephone market. A new industry of companies called Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) was created. These companies compete directly with the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier's (ILECs) such as GTE and Pacific Bell, and provide competitive products, services and prices.

There are two types of CLECs in Los Angeles County: Reseller CLECs and Facility Based CLECs. Re-seller CLECs are companies that usually wholesale the ILEC or Facility Based CLEC products and service and then resale the same products and services to businesses at a discount. Their cost to get into the local phone business is reduced by little investment in constructing infrastructure or purchasing and operating switching equipment. Re-seller CLECs use the same networks and switching systems as the ILEC or Facility Based CLECs and depend on the ILEC or Facility Based CLEC for maintenance if a problem occurs. If a problem does occur the Re-seller CLEC will relay the problem to the ILEC or Facility Based CLEC that will in-turn dispatch a maintenance crew when available. Most Reseller CLECs centralize customer service and provisioning systems. These systems are in most cases located outside of the local calling area.

Facility Based Competitive Local Exchange Carriers have invested millions in building a new telecommunications infrastructure for Los Angeles County. The majority of Facility Based CLECs utilize state-of-the-art fiber optic cable and transmission equipment. Fiber optic communications offer clean, clear, fast channels of phone service for businesses of all sizes. The Facility Based CLEC networks completely or partially by-pass the ILEC Network, offering diverse routing and fully redundant systems to protect against loss of critical information. The new systems also provide for new and unique products and services to be offered at competitive prices.

The Facility Based CLECs also use the latest in Central Office Switching Systems. These new switching systems allow the Facility Based CLECs to combine local, local toll, long distance, paging, data and Internet services all off the same network. This bundling of services offers the Los Angeles County business a single point of contact for all communication needs as well as a single, bill. This is a great benefit to the Los Angeles County business person with little time. Bundling services also has proved to be less expensive.

Network Control is critical for the Facilities Based CLECs. The infrastructure and switching equipment investment and customers demand for a high level of mistake free services require the Facilities Based CLECs to have internal network monitoring and maintenance organizations. Most Facilities Based CLECs operate these organizations 24 hours per day. This offers the Los Angeles County Business and the Facilities Based CLEC protection from network outages and switching errors.

The Los Angeles County business person now has quite a few choices when making local telecommunications services decisions. The Re-seller CLEC offers some advantages in services they provide - most of which revolve around price. The disadvantages of the Re-seller revolve around control. The Reseller CLEC lacks control of their network and their switching systems by purchasing those services from other companies. The Facilities Based CLECs offer new technology, new products, a new level of customer service including constant and quick responses, and good pricing. The disadvantage, if any, of a Facilities Based CLEC are that they are new companies with limited reputations.

My recommendation for Los Angeles County businesses when making local telecommunications decisions is to choose a Facilities Based CLEC that is well financed, has a good reputation and that is locally managed. They offer the most technological, customer service and financial benefits and can react quickly to your needs.

Clarke A. Caines is Vice President of Marketing with NEXTLINK California.