II. Background

By Decision (D.) 94-09-065 and prior decisions we authorized the provision of competitive interLATA and intraLATA interexchange services by carriers meeting specified criteria.¹

In D.95-07-054 and D.95-12-056, we authorized the provision of competitive local exchange service, by carriers meeting specified criteria, within the service territories of Pacific Bell Telephone Company (Pacific) and Verizon California, Inc. (Verizon). Applicants who are granted authority to provide competitive local exchange service must comply with various rules, including: (1) the consumer protection rules set forth in Appendix B of D.95-07-054; (2) the rules for local exchange competition set forth in Appendix C of D.95-12-056; and (3) the customer notification and education rules adopted in D.96-04-049.

¹ California is divided into 10 Local Access and Transport Areas (LATAs) of various sizes, each containing numerous local telephone exchanges. "InterLATA" describes services, revenues, and functions that relate to telecommunications originating in one LATA and terminating in another. "IntraLATA" describes services, revenues, and functions that relate to telecommunications originating and terminating within a single LATA.