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0 points15thandwhatever11y ago0 comments

If this were telecom/PSTN, yes. I know this is not the PSTN, but bear with me for a second.

For years, this is how Verizon/AT&T/SBC/BellSouth/etc had structured telephone networks. And this is probably the same structure they want to extend to shared data networks aka the Internet.

If you were a competitive telco carrier who wanted to deliver a massive amount of phone calls to Verizon customers in a particular region, you couldn't just dump it off at the tandem (which you can think of like a telecom peering point), you had to extend your network to the end offices where the Verizon customers were aggregated.

The thought there being there's finite capacity between the end office and the tandem. And if you're going to use most of it, you should either pay for it or build your own facilities to alleviate congestion.

You're dealing with a traditional telecom company (Verizon) in its telecom mindset (build to me/mid-span meet, and keep a very tight watch on ratios/meet points via accounting, billing, and state regulation), vs. a traditional Internet company (Level 3) in its traditional peering mindset (build to the exchange, then build to me, and keep a loose observation on ratios/meet points with no regulation).

I hope I haven't gone too far off track.

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rahimnathwani11y ago· 1 in thread

So, let's say I build a new skyscraper with 10,000 apartments, and I set myself up as the exclusive POTS/PSTN provider to the tenants of that skyscraper. I wire up the building nicely, and have some big switches and routers in the basement. Does every other phone company now have an obligation to build new circuits, and extend their network all the way to my basement?

15thandwhateverOP11y ago

As a registered telecom provider with the state, you need to file at least one interconnection agreement (the telecom equivalent of a peering agreement) with the regulatory body showing that you are connected with the incumbent (Verizon) or someone who's going to transit calls for you to the incumbent.

The state won't let you take on calls as a local access provider if they're going to end up going nowhere.

You also have a regulated obligation to provide working 911 service so you need to interconnect with the incumbent's 911 tandem switches. So, off the bat, you have multiple connections with or to Verizon.

Now, if there are some really popular people in your building who attract a certain amount of calls, YES, you can demand that the other telecom carriers extend facilities to your switch (which is located in your basement).

Those carriers will decide if they want to build facilities to you, or work with another carrier (remember the one interconnection agreement you had to sign?), to pay them to deliver calls to you on the agreement that they have enough facilities with you.

You are compensated, per minute for any call that terminates on your skyscraper network through a process called reciprocal compensation, whose rates are laid out in the interconnection agreement you signed.

Is old-timey Verizon's attitude starting to make sense?

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