Info

ECI is a subsidiary of the Ernest Group who has been providing telecommunications services, primarily to the private payphone industry, since 1984. ECI was founded in 1998, began providing local service in 1999, and today provides over 50,000 lines to hundreds of satisfied customers. Located in Atlanta Georgia, ECI stands ready to help your payphone company increase its profitability. What is a CLEC? The acronym stands for Competitive Local Exchange Company. A CLEC by its most simple definition is an alternative to the existing, or incumbent, local telephone company, (Incumbent Local Exchange Company or ILEC), for the provision of local telephone service. Both ILECs and CLECs provide dial tone to the phone and serve as the gateway to the rest of the telephone network where callers access other local numbers, the long distance network, operator service providers, and directory assistance. Doesn't the local telephone company have a monopoly? Until recently the ILECs did have a monopoly for local service. Over the past 20 years the federal government has systematically deregulated the entire telecommunications market and attempted to create competition in this sector. This action has been taken in the belief that competition stimulates the creation and deployment of telecommunication technologies and lowers the cost of telecom services to the public. The local service segment is among the last to be addressed. The U.S. Congress gave this process a significant boost with the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Sections 251 and 252 of the Act require ILECs to interconnect with CLECs. This act put CLECs and ILECs on equal footing and recognized ILECs and CLECs as co-carriers. Are CLECs regulated by the FCC or state public utility commissions? There are numerous regulations affecting the establishment and ongoing operation of a CLEC. A company wishing to become a CLEC must obtain authorization from the Secretary of State's office in each state where it wishes to do business. Next the company must obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (certification) from each state's Public Utility Commission. Each state has different requirements, and the processes as well as the requirements vary from state to state. Additionally, the prospective CLEC must file a tariff in each state containing at a minimum descriptions of services, prices, terms and conditions of service. There may be other information that is required in certain states. The prospective CLEC must also obtain "interconnection agreements" with each ILEC with whom they wish to "interconnect" or operate in that ILECs franchised area. ILECs cannot refuse to work with the prospective CLEC to obtain this agreement, but the requirements can be stringent. On an ongoing basis there is a significant amount of compliance paperwork that must be filed in each state on a continuing basis. All these requirements are put in place as safeguards to protect the telephone-using public by assuring to the greatest extent possible that those companies who become CLECs deliver telephone service that the general public has come to expect. Where does ECI offer local service? ECI offers local service in the following areas: BellSouth areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee. Southwestern Bell areas of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Verizon areas of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Ameritech areas of Indiana. Pacific Bell areas of California. Qwest areas of Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Washington In addition, we anticipate offering service in the very near future in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. What are ECI's rates? The rates vary from state to state just as the ILECs rates vary from state to state. In most states ECI's rates are about fifteen to twenty percent lower than the ILECs payphone rates.