What does ILEC, CLEC and IXC stand for?
The ILEC or LEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) is the historic local phone service provider in a market, often former Bell company, which is the dominant service provider determined by the FCC. CLECs (Competitive Local Exchange Carriers) are simply competing service providers in the respective markets, who gained access into the market with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. An IXC (Inter-Exchange Carrier) is a telephone company that provides connections between local exchanges in different geographic areas. They are commonly referred to as long distance carriers.
