(a)

(1) Through June 30, 1998, except as provided in paragraph (l) of this section, tandem-switched transport shall consist of two rate elements, a transmission charge and a tandem switching charge.

(2) Beginning July 1, 1998, except as provided in paragraph (l) of this section, tandem-switched transport shall consist of three rate elements as follows:

(i) A per-minute charge for transport of traffic over common transport facilities between the incumbent local exchange carrier's end office and the tandem switching office. This charge shall be expressed in dollars and cents per access minute of use and shall be assessed upon all purchasers of common transport facilities between the local exchange carrier's end office and the tandem switching office.

(ii) A per-minute tandem switching charge. This tandem switching charge shall be set in accordance with paragraph (g) of this section, excluding multiplexer and dedicated port costs recovered in accordance with paragraph (l) of this section, and shall be assessed upon all interexchange carriers and other persons that use incumbent local exchange carrier tandem switching facilities.

(iii) A flat-rated charge for transport of traffic over dedicated transport facilities between the serving wire center and the tandem switching office. This charge shall be assessed as a charge for dedicated transport facilities provisioned between the serving wire center and the tandem switching office in accordance with §69.112.

(b) [Reserved]

(c)

(1) Until June 30, 1998:

(i) Except in study areas where the incumbent local exchange carrier has implemented density pricing zones as described in section 69.123, per-minute common transport charges described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall be presumed reasonable if the incumbent local exchange carrier bases the charges on a weighted per-minute equivalent of direct-trunked transport DS1 and DS3 rates that reflects the relative number of DS1 and DS3 circuits used in the tandem to end office links (or a surrogate based on the proportion of copper and fiber facilities in the interoffice network), calculated using the total actual voice-grade minutes of use, geographically averaged on a study-area-wide basis, that the incumbent local exchange carrier experiences based on the prior year's annual use. Tandem-switched transport transmission charges that are not presumed reasonable shall be suspended and investigated absent a substantial cause showing by the incumbent local exchange carrier.

(ii) In study areas where the incumbent local exchange carrier has implemented density pricing zones as described in section 69.123, per-minute common transport charges described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall be presumed reasonable if the incumbent local exchange carrier bases the charges on a weighted per-minute equivalent of direct-trunked transport DS1 and DS3 rates that reflects the relative number of DS1 and DS3 circuits used in the tandem to end office links (or a surrogate based on the proportion of copper and fiber facilities in the interoffice network), calculated using the total actual voice-grade minutes of use, averaged on a zone-wide basis, that the incumbent local exchange carrier experiences based on the prior year's annual use. Tandem-switched transport transmission charges that are not presumed reasonable shall be suspended and investigated absent a substantial cause showing by the incumbent local exchange carrier.

(2) Beginning July 1, 1998:

(i) Except in study areas where the incumbent local exchange carrier has implemented density pricing zones as described in section 69.123, per-minute common transport charges described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section shall be presumed reasonable if the incumbent local exchange carrier bases the charges on a weighted per-minute equivalent of direct-trunked transport DS1 and DS3 rates that reflects the relative number of DS1 and DS3 circuits used in the tandem to end office links (or a surrogate based on the proportion of copper and fiber facilities in the interoffice network), calculated using the total actual voice-grade minutes of use, geographically averaged on a study-area-wide basis, that the incumbent local exchange carrier experiences based on the prior year's annual use. Tandem-switched transport transmission charges that are not presumed reasonable shall be suspended and investigated absent a substantial cause showing by the incumbent local exchange carrier.

(ii) In study areas where the incumbent local exchange carrier has implemented density pricing zones as described in section 69.123, per-minute common transport charges described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section shall be presumed reasonable if the incumbent local exchange carrier bases the charges on a weighted per-minute equivalent of direct-trunked transport DS1 and DS3 rates that reflects the relative number of DS1 and DS3 circuits used in the tandem to end office links (or a surrogate based on the proportion of copper and fiber facilities in the interoffice network), calculated using the total actual voice-grade minutes of use, averaged on a zone-wide basis, that the incumbent local exchange carrier experiences based on the prior year's annual use. Tandem-switched transport transmission charges that are not presumed reasonable shall be suspended and investigated absent a substantial cause showing by the incumbent local exchange carrier.

(d)

(1) Through June 30, 1998, the tandem-switched transport transmission charges may be distance-sensitive. Distance shall be measured as airline distance between the serving wire center and the end office, unless the customer has ordered tandem-switched transport between the tandem office and the end office, in which case distance shall be measured as airline distance between the tandem office and the end office.

(2) Beginning July 1, 1998, the per-minute charge for transport of traffic over common transport facilities described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section may be distance-sensitive. Distance shall be measured as airline distance between the tandem switching office and the end office.

(e)

(1) Through June 30, 1998, if the telephone company employs distance-sensitive rates:

(i) A distance-sensitive component shall be assessed for use of the transmission facilities, including intermediate transmission circuit equipment between the end points of the interoffice circuit; and

(ii) A non-distance-sensitive component shall be assessed for use of the circuit equipment at the ends of the interoffice transmission links.

(2) Beginning July 1, 1998, if the telephone company employs distance-sensitive rates for transport of traffic over common transport facilities, as described in paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section:

(i) A distance-sensitive component shall be assessed for use of the common transport facilities, including intermediate transmission circuit equipment between the end office and tandem switching office; and

(ii) A non-distance-sensitive component shall be assessed for use of the circuit equipment at the ends of the interoffice transmission links.

(f) [Reserved]

(g)

(1) The tandem switching charge imposed pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1) or (a)(2)(ii) of this section, as applicable, shall be set to recover twenty percent of the annual part 69 interstate tandem revenue requirement plus one third of the portion of the tandem switching revenue requirement being recovered through the interconnection charge recovered by §§69.124, 69.153, and 69.155, excluding multiplexer and dedicated port costs recovered in accordance with paragraph (l) of this section.

(2) Beginning January 1, 1999, the tandem switching charge imposed pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section shall be set to recover the amount prescribed in paragraph (g)(1) of this section plus one half of the remaining portion of the tandem switching revenue requirement then being recovered through the interconnection charge recovered by §§69.124, 69.153, and 69.155, excluding multiplexer and dedicated port costs recovered in accordance with paragraph (l) of this section.

(3) Beginning January 1, 2000, the tandem switching charge imposed pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section shall be set to recover the entire interstate tandem switching revenue requirement, including that portion formerly recovered through the interconnection charge recovered in §§69.124, 69.153, and 69.155, and excluding multiplexer and dedicated port costs recovered in accordance with paragraph (l) of this section.

(4) A local exchange carrier that is subject to price cap regulation as that term is defined in §61.3(x) of this chapter shall calculate its tandem switching revenue requirement as used in this paragraph by dividing the tandem switching revenue requirement that was included in the original interconnection charge by the original interconnection charge, and then multiplying this result by the annual revenues recovered through the interconnection charge, described in §69.124, as of June 30, 1997. A local exchange carrier that is subject to price cap regulation as that term is defined in §61.3(x) of this chapter shall then make downward exogenous adjustments to the service band index for the interconnection charge service category (defined in §61.42(e)(2)(vi) of this chapter) and corresponding upward adjustments to the service band index for the tandem-switched transport service category (defined in §61.42(e)(2)(v) of this chapter) at the times and in the amounts prescribed in paragraphs (g)(1) through (g)(3) of this section .

(h) All telephone companies shall provide tandem-switched transport service.

(i) Except in the situations set forth in paragraphs (j) and (k) of this section, telephone companies may offer term and volume discounts in tandem-switched transport charges within each study area used for the purpose of jurisdictional separations, in which interconnectors have taken either:

(1) At least 100 DS1-equivalent cross-connects for the transmission of switched traffic (as described in §69.121(a)(1) of this chapter) in offices in the study area that the telephone company has assigned to the lowest priced density pricing zone (zone 1) under an approved density pricing zone plan as described in §§61.38(b)(4) and 61.49(k) of this chapter; or

(2) An average of at least 25 DS1-equivalent cross-connects for the transmission of switched traffic per office assigned to the lowest priced density pricing zone (zone 1).

(j) In study areas in which the telephone company has implemented density zone pricing, but no offices have been assigned to the lowest priced density pricing zone (zone 1), telephone companies may offer term and volume discounts in tandem-switched transport charges within the study area when interconnectors have taken at least 5 DS1-equivalent cross-connects for the transmission of switched traffic (as described in §69.121(a)(1) of this chapter) in offices in the study area.

(k) In study areas in which the telephone company has not implemented density zone pricing, telephone companies may offer term and volume discounts in tandem-switched transport charges when interconnectors have taken at least 100 DS1-equivalent cross-connects for the transmission of switched traffic (as described in §69.121(a)(1) of this chapter) in offices in the study area.

(l) In addition to the charges described in this section, price cap local exchange carriers shall establish separate charges for multiplexers and dedicated trunk ports used in conjunction with the tandem switch as follows:

(1) Local exchange carriers must establish a traffic-sensitive charge for DS3/DS1 multiplexers used on the end office side of the tandem switch, assessed on purchasers of common transport to the tandem switch. This charge must be expressed in dollars and cents per access minute of use. The maximum charge shall be calculated by dividing the total costs of the multiplexers on the end office-side of the tandem switch by the annual access minutes of use calculated for purposes of recovery of common transport costs in paragraph (c) of this section. A similar charge shall be assessed for DS1/voice-grade multiplexing provided on the end-office side of analog tandem switches.

(2)

(i) Local exchange carriers must establish a flat-rated charge for dedicated DS3/DS1 multiplexing on the serving wire center side of the tandem switch provided in conjunction with dedicated DS3 transport service from the serving wire center to the tandem switch. This charge shall be assessed on interexchange carriers purchasing tandem-switched transport in proportion to the number of DS3 trunks provisioned for that interexchange carrier between the serving wire center and the tandem-switch.

(ii) Local exchange carriers must establish a flat-rated charge for dedicated DS1/voice-grade multiplexing provided on the serving wire center side of analog tandem switches. This charge may be assessed on interexchange carriers purchasing tandem-switched transport in proportion to the interexchange carrier's transport capacity on the serving wire center side of the tandem.

(3) Price cap local exchange carriers may recover the costs of dedicated trunk ports on the serving wire center side of the tandem switch only through flat-rated charges expressed in dollars and cents per trunk port and assessed upon the purchaser of the dedicated trunk terminating at the port.

(m) In addition to the charges described in this section, non-price cap local exchange carriers may establish separate charges for multiplexers and dedicated trunk ports used in conjunction with the tandem switch as follows:

(1)

(i) Non-price cap local exchange carriers may establish a flat-rated charge for dedicated DS3/DS1 multiplexing on the serving wire center side of the tandem switch provided in conjunction with dedicated DS3 transport service from the serving wire center to the tandem switch. This charge shall be assessed on interexchange carriers purchasing tandem-switched transport in proportion to the number of DS3 trunks provisioned for that interexchange carrier between the serving wire center and the tandem switch.

(ii) Non-price cap local exchange carriers may establish a flat-rated charge for dedicated DS1/voice-grade multiplexing provided on the serving wire center side of analog tandem switches. This charge may be assessed on interexchange carriers purchasing tandem-switched transport in proportion to the interexchange carrier's transport capacity on the serving wire center side of the tandem.

(2) Non-price cap local exchange carriers may recover the costs of dedicated trunk ports on the serving wire center side of the tandem switch through flat-rated charges expressed in dollars and cents per trunk port and assessed upon the purchaser of the dedicated trunk terminating at the port.

[57 FR 54720, Nov. 20, 1992, as amended at 58 FR 41190, Aug. 3, 1993; 58 FR 48764, Sept. 17, 1993; 60 FR 50121, Sept. 28, 1995; 62 FR 31933, June 11, 1997; 62 FR 40463, July 29, 1997; 62 FR 56132, Oct. 29, 1997; 64 FR 46594, Aug. 26, 1999; 66 FR 59732, Nov. 30, 2001]