Interconnection Agreement

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

PACIFIC/PAC-WEST TELECOM



INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT UNDER SECTIONS 251 AND 252

OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996





by and between



PACIFIC BELL



PAC-WEST TELECOMM

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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PACIFIC/PAC-WEST TELECOM





TABLE OF CONTENTS



1. DEFINITIONS.......................................................................... 1



2. INTERPRETATION AND CONSTRUCTION...................................................... 7



3. IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE AND INTERCONNECTION ACTIVATION DATES......................... 7



4. INTERCONNECTION PURSUANT TO SEC 251(c)(2)(A),(B),(C); 47 CFR (S)51.305(a)(1)......... 7



4.1 Scope............................................................................ 7



4.2 Interconnection Coverage (S) 251(c)(2)(B) and (C), 47 CFR (S)51.305(a)(2)........ 8



4.3 Methods for Interconnection...................................................... 8



5. TRANSMISSION AND ROUTING OF TELEPHONE EXCHANGE SERVICE TRAFFIC PURSUANT TO

SECTION 251(c)(2)(D); 252(d)(1) AND (2); 47 CFR (S) 51.305(a)(5)........................ 9



5.1 Scope of Traffic................................................................. 9



5.2 Responsibilities of the Parties.................................................. 10



5.3 Reciprocal Compensation for Termination of Local Traffic......................... 12



5.3.2 Applicability of Rates...................................................... 12



5.3.3 Rate Elements............................................................... 12



5.3.4 Local Traffic Interconnection Rates......................................... 13



5.4 Reciprocal Compensation for Transit Traffic...................................... 13



5.5 Reciprocal Compensation for Termination of IntraLATA Interexchange Traffic....... 14



5.6 Compensation for Origination and Termination of Switched Access Service

Traffic to or from an IXC (Meet-Point Billing ("MPB") Arrangements).............. 14



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5.7 Maintenance of Service.............................................................. 16



6. TRANSMISSION AND ROUTING OF SWITCHED ACCESS TRAFFIC PURSUANT TO 251(c)(2).............. 17



6.1 Scope of Traffic.................................................................... 17



7. TRANSPORT AND TERMINATION OF OTHER TYPES OF TRAFFIC.................................... 17



7.1 Information Services Traffic........................................................ 17



8. SIGNALING.............................................................................. 17



9. NUMBERING.............................................................................. 18



9.9 NXX Migration....................................................................... 19



10. RESALE -- SECTIONS 251(b)(1); 251(c)(4); 252(d)(3); and 271(c)(2)(B)(xiv).............. 19



10.1 Availability of PACIFIC Retail Telecommunications Services for Resale............... 19



10.2 Availability of CLEC Retail Telecommunication Services for Resale................... 19



11. UNBUNDLED NETWORK ELEMENTS -- SECTIONS 251(c)(3), 271(c)(2)(B) (ii),(iv),(v),(vi),(x).. 19



12. NOTICE OF CHANGES -- SECTION 251(c)(5)................................................. 19



13. COLLOCATION -- SECTION 251(c)(6)....................................................... 20



14. NUMBER PORTABILITY -- SECTIONS 251(b)(2) and 271(c)(2)(B)(xi).......................... 20



15. DIALING PARTY - SECTION 251(b)(3); 271(c)(2)(B)(xii); and 271(e)(2).................... 20



16. ACCESS TO RIGHTS-OF-WAY -- SECTION 251(b)(4) and 271(c)(2)(B)(iii)..................... 20



17. DATABASE ACCESS -- SECTION 271(c)(2)(B)(x)............................................ 21



18. INTERCEPT REFERRAL ANNOUNCEMENTS....................................................... 21



19. COORDINATED REPAIR CALLS............................................................... 21



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20. OTHER SERVICES 271(c)(b)(2)(vii) and 271(c)(2)(b)(viii)................................... 21



20.1 White Pages............................................................................ 21



20.2 911 and E911 Services.................................................................. 22



20.3 Directory Assistance ("DA")............................................................ 22



20.4 Operator Services...................................................................... 22



20.5 Hosting................................................................................ 22



20.6 Signaling System 7 Interconnection..................................................... 22



21. GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES................................................... 22



22. EFFECTIVE DATE, TERM, AND TERMINATION..................................................... 24



23. DISCLAIMER OF REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES.............................................. 25



24. CHANGES IN END USER LOCAL EXCHANGE SERVICE PROVIDER SELECTION............................. 25



25. SEVERABILITY.............................................................................. 26



26. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY..................................................................... 26



27. INDEMNIFICATION........................................................................... 26



28. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY................................................................... 29



29. REGULATORY APPROVAL....................................................................... 30



30. MISCELLANEOUS............................................................................. 30



30.1 Authorization.......................................................................... 30



30.2 Compliance and Certification........................................................... 31



30.3 Law Enforcement........................................................................ 31



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(a) Intercept Devices:................................................................. 31



(b) Subpoenas:......................................................................... 31



(c) Emergencies:....................................................................... 31



30.4 Independent Contractor................................................................. 32



30.5 Force Majeure.......................................................................... 32



30.6 Confidentiality........................................................................ 32



30.7 Governing Law.......................................................................... 34



30.8 Taxes.................................................................................. 35



30.9 Non-Assignment......................................................................... 36



30.10 Non-Waiver............................................................................. 37



30.11 Audits................................................................................. 37



30.12 Disputed Amounts....................................................................... 37



30.13 Dispute Resolution..................................................................... 38



30.14 Notices................................................................................ 39



30.15 Publicity and Use of Trademarks or Service Marks....................................... 40



30.16 Section 252(i) Obligations............................................................. 40



30.17 Joint Work Product..................................................................... 41



30.18 Intervening Law........................................................................ 41



30.19 No Third Party Beneficiaries; Disclaimer of Agency..................................... 42



30.20 No License............................................................................. 42



30.21 Survival............................................................................... 42



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30.22 Scope of Agreement............................................... 42



30.23 Entire Agreement................................................. 43



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INTERCONNECTION AGREEMENT UNDER SECTIONS 251 AND 252 OF THE

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996





This Interconnection Agreement under Sections 251 and 252 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("Agreement") is by and between Pacific Bell, a California Corporation ("PACIFIC"), and PAC-WEST TELECOM, INC, ("CLEC") a California Corporation doing bus iness at 4202 Coronado Avenue, Stockton, CA.



WHEREAS, the Parties want to interconnect their networks at mutually agreed upon points of interconnection to provide, directly or indirectly, Telephone Exchange Services and Exchange Access to residential and business end users predominantly over their respective telephone exchange service facilities in California; and



WHEREAS, the Parties are entering into this Agreement to set forth the respective obligations of the Parties and the terms and conditi ons under which the Parties will interconnect their networks and provide other services as required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("the Act") and additional services as set forth herein; and



WHEREAS, for purposes of this Agreement, the Parties intend to operate where PACIFIC is the incumbent local exchange carrier and CLEC, a competitive local exchange carrier, is certified by the California Public Utilities Commission, as required.



NOW, THEREFORE, CLEC and PACIFIC hereby agree as follows:



1. DEFINITIONS

-----------



1.1 "Act" means the Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 153(R)], as

amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.



1.2 "Affiliate" is as defined in the Act.



1.3 "AMA" means the Automated Message Accounting structure inherent in

switch technology that initially records telecommunication message

information. AMA format is contained in the Automated Message

Accounting document published by Bellcore as GR-1100-CORE which

defines the industry standard for message recording.



1.4 "Automatic Number Identification" or "ANI" is a Feature Group D or a

CAMA signaling parameter that forwards the telephone ("CAMA") or

billing number ("FG-D") of the calling party.

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1.5 "Busy Line Verification Interrupt" or "BLVI" means a service in which

an End User requests an operator to confirm the busy status of a line

and requests an interruption of the call.



1.6 "Calling Party Number" or "CPN" is a Signaling System 7 ("SS7")

parameter whereby the ten (10) digit number of the calling party is

forwarded from the End Office.



1.7 "Central Office Switch" means a single switching system within the

public switched telecommunications network, including the following:



(a) "End Office Switches" which are Class 5 switches where End User

Exchange Services are directly connected and offered; and



(b) "Tandem Office Switches" or "Access Tandems" which are switches

used to connect and switch calls over interoffice trunks between

End Office Switches.



Central Offices may be employed as combination End Office/Tandem

Office switches.



1.8 "CLASS Features" mean certain CCS-based features available to End

Users including, but not limited to: Automatic Call Back; Call Trace;

Distinctive Ringing/Call Waiting; Selective Call Forward; and

Selective Call Rejection.



1.9 "Collocation" is defined in Appendix PHYSICAL COLLOCATION. Generally,

however, "collocation" refers to an arrangement whereby one Party's

(the "Collocating Party") facilities are terminated in its equipment

necessary for Interconnection or for access to Network Elements on an

unbundled basis which has been installed and maintained at the

premises of a second Party (the "Housing Party"). Collocation may be

"physical" or "virtual." "Physical Collocation" is defined in Appendix

PHYSICAL COLLOCATION and generally refers to the Collocating Party

installing and maintaining its own equipment in the Housing Party's

premises. "Virtual Collocation is defined in Appendix NIM and

generally refers to the "Housing Party" owning, installing and

maintaining the collocated equipment in the Housing Party's premises.



1.10 "Commission" or "CPUC" means the California Public Utilities



1.11 "Common Channel Signaling" or "CCS" is a special network, fully

separate from the transmission path of the public switched network,

that digitally transmits call

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set-up and network control data. Unless otherwise agreed by the

Parties, the CCS protocol used by the Parties shall be SS7.



1.12 "Competitive Local Exchange Carriers - "CLEC" is as defined in the



1.13 "Control Office" means an exchange carrier center or office

designated as its company's single point of contact for the

provisioning and maintenance of its portion of interconnection



1.14 "Dialing Parity" is as defined in the Act. As used in this

Agreement, Dialing Parity refers to both Local Dialing Parity and Toll

Dialing Parity.



1.15 "Digital Signal Level" means one of several transmission rates in the

time-division multiplex hierarchy.



1.16 "Digital Signal Level 0" or "DS-0" means the 64 Kbps zero-level

signal in the time-division multiplex hierarchy.



1.17 "Digital Signal Level 1" or "DS-1" means the 1.544 Mbps first-level

signal in the time-division multiplex hierarchy. In the time-division

multiplexing hierarchy of the telephone network, DS-1 is the initial

level of multiplexing.



1.18 "Digital Signal Level 3" or "DS-3" means the 44.736 Mbps third-level

in the time-division multiplex hierarchy. In the time-division

multiplexing hierarchy of the telephone network, DS-3 is defined as

the third level of multiplexing.



1.19 "End User" means a third-party residence or business that subscribes

to Telecommunications Services provided by either of the Parties or by

another telecommunications service provider.



1.20 "Exchange Access" see Switched Access.



1.21 "Exchange Message Record" or "EMR" means the standard used for

exchange of Telecommunications message information among

Telecommunications Carriers for billable, non-billable, sample,

settlement and study data. EMR format is contained in Bellcore

Practice BR-010-200-010 CRIS Exchange Message Record.



1.22 "Fiber Meet" means an Interconnection architecture method whereby the

Parties physically interconnect their networks via an optical fiber

interface (as opposed to an electrical interface) at a mutually

agreed-upon location.



1.23 "Interconnection" is as defined in the Act.

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1.24 "Interconnection Activation Date" is the date that the construction

of the joint facility Interconnection arrangement has been completed,

trunk groups have been established, and joint trunk testing is



1.25 "Interexchange Carrier" or "IXC" (also referred to as "Switched

Access Customer") means a carrier that provides, directly or

indirectly, interLATA or intraLATA Telephone Toll Services. For

purposes of Section 6 of this Agreement, the term "IXC" includes any

entity which purchases FGB or FGD Switched Access Service in order to

originate or terminate traffic to/from CLEC's End Users.



1.26 "IntraLATA Toll Traffic" means those intraLATA station calls that are

not defined as Local Traffic in this Agreement.



1.27 "Line Side" refers to End Office switch connections that have been

programmed to treat the circuit as a local line connected to a

terminating station (e.g., an ordinary subscriber's telephone station

set, a PBX, answering machine, facsimile machine or computer). Line

Side connections offer only those transmission and signal features

appropriate for a connection between an End Office and such

terminating station.



1.28 "Local Exchange Routing Guide" or "LERG" means a Bellcore Reference

Document used by LECs and IXCs to identify NPA-NXX routing and homing

information as well as Network Element and equipment designations.



1.29 "Local Exchange Traffic" is as defined in the Act.



1.30 "Local Interconnection Trunks/Trunk Groups" are used for the

termination of Local Exchange Traffic, using Bellcore Technical

Reference GR-317-CORE ("GR-317").



1.31 "Local Calls" are as defined by the Commission. Local Calls

currently include all 0-12 mile calls based on the rate centers of the

originating and terminating NPA-NXXs of the callers, irrespective of

whether the routing point of an NPA-NXX is different than the rate

center of that NPA-NXX (these include but are not limited to ZUM Zone

1 and ZUM Zone 2 calls) and, where established in incumbent LEC

tariffs, ZUM Zone 3 and Extended Area Service (EAS) calls.



1.32 "Losses" means any and all losses, costs (including court costs),

claims, damages (including fines, penalties, and criminal or civil

judgments and settlements), injuries, liabilities and expenses

(including attorneys' fees).

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1.33 "MECAB" refers to the Multiple Exchange Carrier Access Billing

("MECAB") document prepared by the Billing Committee of the Ordering

and Billing Forum ("OBF"), which functions under the auspices of the

Carrier Liaison Committee ("CLC") of the Alliance for

Telecommunications Industry Solutions ("ATIS"). The MECAB document,

published by Bellcore as Special Report SR-BDS-000983, contains the

recommended guidelines for the billing of access services provided to

an IXC by two or more LECs, or by one LEC in two or more states within

a single LATA.



1.34 "MECOD" refers to the Multiple Exchange Carriers Ordering and Design

"MECOD") Guidelines for Access Services - Industry Support Interface,

a document developed by the Ordering/Provisioning Committee of the

Ordering and Billing Forum ("OBF"), which functions under the auspices

of the Carrier Liaison Committee ("CLC") of the Alliance for

Telecommunications Industry Solutions ("ATIS"). The MECOD document,

published by Bellcore as Special Report SR STS-002643, establishes

methods for processing orders for access service which is to be

provided to an IXC by two or more telecommunications providers.



1.35 "Meet-Point Billing" or "MPB" refers to a billing arrangement whereby

two or more Telecommunications Carriers jointly provide for Switched

Access Service to an IXC, with each LEC receiving an appropriate share

of its switched access revenues as defined by its effective access



1.36 "Meet Point Trunks/Trunk Groups" ("MPTGs") are used for the joint

provision of Switched Access services, utilizing Bellcore Technical

References GR-394-CORE ("GR-394") and GR-317-CORE ("GR-317"). MPTGs

are those between a local End Office and an Access Tandem as described

in FSD 20-24-0000 and 20-24-0300.



1.37 "Mid-Span Meet" means an interconnection between two LECs whereby

each provides its own cable and equipment up to the meet point of the

cable facilities. The meet point is the demarcation establishing

ownership of and responsibility for each LEC's portion of the

transmission facility.



1.38 "Network Element Bona Fide Request" or "BFR" means the process

described in Appendix UNE that is attached hereto and incorporated

herein that prescribes the terms and conditions relating to a Party's

request that the other Party provide a Network Element.

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1.39 "Originating Line Information ("OLI")" is an SS7 Feature Group D

signaling parameter which refers to the number transmitted through the

network identifying the billing number of the calling party.



1.40 "Point of Interconnection" or "POI" means a physical location at

which the Parties' networks meet for the purpose of establishing

interconnection. POIs include a number of different technologies and

technical interfaces based on the Parties' mutual agreement.



1.41 "Rating Point" means the Vertical and Horizontal ("V&H") coordinates

associated with a particular telephone number for rating purposes.



1.42 "Routing Point" means a location which a LEC has designated on its

own network as the homing or routing point for traffic inbound to

Exchange Service provided by the LEC which bears a certain NPA-NXX

designation. The Routing Point is employed to calculate mileage

measurements for the distance-sensitive transport element charges of

Switched Access services. The Routing Point need not be the same as

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