Local Access And Transport Area: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Geographical area of the United States, used in telephone service}}

[[Image:LATAs.png|thumb|right|350px|Map of LATAs in the US]]

'''Local accessAccess andAnd transportTransport areaArea''' ('''LATA''') is a term useddefined in U.S.United States [[telecommunications]] regulation. ItA representsLATA is a geographical area of the United States under the terms of the [[Modification of Final Judgment]] (MFJ) entered by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Civil Action number 82-0192 or any other geographic area designated as a LATA in the [[National Exchange Carrier Association]], Inc. Tariff FCC No. 4. that precipitated the breakup of the original [[American Telephone & Telegraph|AT&T]] into the "[[Regional Bell Operating Company|Baby Bells]]" or created since that time for [[Plain old telephone service|wireline]] regulation.

Generally, a LATA represents an area within which a [[divested]] [[Regional Bell Operating Company]] (RBOC) is permitted to offer [[telephone exchange|exchange]] telecommunications and exchange access services. Under the terms of the MFJ, the RBOCs are generally prohibited from providing services that originate in one LATA and terminate in another.

LATA boundaries tend to be drawn around markets, and not necessarily along existing [[U.S. state|state]] or [[Telephone numbering plan#Area code|area code]] borders. Some LATAs cross over state boundaries, such as those for the [[New York metropolitan area]] and [[Greenwich, Connecticut]]; [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]]; [[Portland, Oregon]]; and areas between [[Maryland]], [[Virginia]], and [[West Virginia]]. Area codes and LATAs do not necessarily share boundaries; many LATAs exist in multiple area codes, and many area codes exist in multiple LATAs.

Originally, the LATAs were grouped into regions within which one particular RBOC was allowed to provide services. The LATAs in each of these regions are numbered beginning with the same digit. Generally, the LATAs were associated with [[telephone carrier|carrier]]s or other indications in the following manner:

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|0xx||unused||

|-

|1xx||[[New York (state)|New York]] & [[New England]]||[[NYNEX]] (now [[Verizon]] and [[FairPointConsolidated Communications]])

|-

|2xx||[[Mid-Atlantic States|Mid-Atlantic]]||[[Bell Atlantic]] (now Verizon and [[Frontier West Virginia|Frontier]])

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In addition to this list, two local carriers were made independent: [[Cincinnati Bell]] in the [[Cincinnati]] area, and [[Southern New England Telephone|SNET]] (a former unit of AT&T, sold to [[Frontier Communications|Frontier]]) in [[Connecticut]]. These were assigned LATAs in the 9xx range.

Since the [[Modification of Final Judgment|breakup of the originalBell AT&TSystem]] in 1984, however, some amount of [[deregulation]], as well as a number of phone company [[Mergers and acquisitions|merger]]s, have blurred the significance of these regions. A number of new LATAs have been formed within these regions since their inception, most beginning with the digit 9.

LATAs contribute to an often confusing aspect of [[long–distancelong-distance calling|long–distancelong-distance]] telephone service. Due to the various and overlapping regulatory limitations and inter-business arrangements, phone companies typically provide differing types of “long distance” service, each with potentially different rates:

* within same LATA, within same state

* within same LATA, between different states

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Local carriers have various alternative terms for LATAs such as “Service Area” by Pacific Bell in California, or “Regional Calling Area” by Verizon in Maryland.

In order toTo facilitate the sharing of [[Telcordia]] telephone routing databases between countries, LATAs were later defined for the provinces of [[Canada]], the other countries and territories of the [[North American Numbering Plan]], and [[Mexico]]. Aside from U.S. territories, LATAs have no regulatory purpose in these areas. In 2000, the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] eliminated all Canadian provincial LATAs in favor of a single LATA for Canada (888).

No LATAs exist with a second digit of 0 or 1, which distinguished them from traditional [[Numbering plan area|area codes]].

{{TOC right}}

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====North Dakota====

*636 [[Brainerd, Minnesota|Brainerd]], Minnesota-[[Fargo, North Dakota|Fargo]], North Dakota <ref name="fargo" />

*638 [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck]]

**Includes portions of [[Montana]] near [[Beach, North Dakota|Beach]] and [[Squaw Gap, North Dakota|SquawHomesteaders Gap]], North Dakota

====Ohio====

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*670 [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]]

*672 [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]]

** Includes [[Southwestern Washington|Southwestern]] [[Washington (state)|Washington]] from [[Willapa Bay]] to [[Goldendale, Washington|Goldendale]]

====Pennsylvania====

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** Includes northwestern tip of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]

*474 [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]]

*956 [[Bristol, Tennessee|Bristol]]-[[Kingsport, Tennessee|Kingsport]]-[[Johnson CountyCity, Tennessee|Johnson CountyCity]]

** Includes part of [[Virginia]] from [[Abingdon, Virginia|Abingdon]] to [[Wytheville, Virginia|Wytheville]]

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*550 [[Abilene, Texas|Abilene]]

*552 [[Dallas]]

*554 [[Longview, Texas|Longview]], [[Kilgore, Texas|Kilgore]]

** Includes [[Miller County, Arkansas|Miller County]], Arkansas

*556 [[Waco, Texas|Waco]]

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===Local interconnection region===

Canada does define '''local interconnection regions''' (LIR's), which determine where points of interconnection (POI) must be provided by [[Competitive local exchange carrier|competing local exchange]] and mobile carriers to provide [[local number portability]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2007/dt2007-23.htm|title = Rogers Wireless Partnership Part VII application regarding the requirement for a central office code in each served exchange|date = 12 April 2007}}</ref> A Canadian LIR is geographically smaller than a US LATA, typically comparable in size to a small city's flat-rate local calling area or to an entire large [[regional municipality]]. In areas where a small-city [[Digital Multiplex System]] controls a group of [[remote switching centre]]s, one for each surrounding village, the local interconnect region normally includes each exchange in the city plus all downstream remotes of those exchanges.<ref>[http://www.localcallingguide.com/lca_listlir.php List of Canadian LIRs] on localcallingguide.com</ref> In a [[Toronto]]-sized city, the LIR will include only the city itself.

While the LIRs resemble local calling areas in geographic size, there are some key differences:

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* LIR's closely follow network topology, which often does not match a local flat-rate calling area as local calling is defined by arbitrary regulatory constructs.

One exampleExample: The tiny unincorporated village of [[Beebe Plain]], divided by the [[Quebec]]-[[Vermont]] border, is served by +1-819-876 [[Rock Island, Quebec]], Canada (a remote station controlled from [[Magog, Quebec|Magog]]) and +1-802-873 [[Derby Line, Vermont]], USA (a remote station controlled from [[St. Johnsbury, Vermont|St. Johnsbury]]). Magog and St. Johnsbury are both a long-distance call from anywhere in Beebe Plain, even though Canadian subscribers can place local calls to [[Sherbrooke]], US subscribers can locally call [[Newport (city), Vermont|Newport]] and an international call within the village is local. An LIR assignment which follows network topology places the Canadian remote station in Magog's LIR, not Sherbrooke's LIR.<ref>[http://www.localcallingguide.com/lca_exch.php?exch=172360 Rock Island QC] on localcallingguide.com</ref>

==See also==

*[[Modification of Final Judgment]]

*[[Regional Bell Operating Company]]

*[[Local Exchange Routing Guide]]

*[[Telcordia]]

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

==External link==

[[Category:Telephony]]