Local access and transport area

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Map of LATAs in the US
Map of LATAs in the US

Local access and transport area (LATA) is a term used in U.S. telecommunications regulation. It represents a geographical area of the United States under the terms of the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) that precipitated the breakup of the original AT&T into the "Baby Bells" or created since that time for wireline regulation.

Generally, a LATA represents an area within which a divested Regional Bell operating company (RBOC) is permitted to offer 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 state, province, or even area code borders. Some LATAs cross over state boundaries, such as those for the New York metropolitan area and Greenwich, Connecticut; 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 carriers or other indications in the following manner:

Digit Area/Use RBOC
0xx unused
1xx New York & New England NYNEX (now Verizon)
2xx Mid-Atlantic Bell Atlantic (now Verizon)
3xx Great Lakes Ameritech (now AT&T)
4xx Southeast BellSouth (now AT&T)
5xx South-central Southwestern Bell (now AT&T)
6xx Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and Rocky Mountains US West (now Qwest)
7xx California and Nevada Pacific Bell (now AT&T)
8xx Non-contiguous and international areas
9xx Other/Expansion

In addition to this list, two local carriers were made independent: Cincinnati Bell in the Cincinnati area, and SNET (now AT&T) in Connecticut. These were assigned LATAs in the 9xx range.

Since the breakup of the original AT&T in 1984, however, some amount of deregulation, as well as a number of phone company mergers, 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 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
  • between different LATAs, within same state
  • between different LATAs, between different states

Given the complexity of the legal and financial issues involved in each distinction, many long distance companies tend to not explain the details of these different rates, which can lead to billing questions from surprised customers.

In addition, since the term LATA is itself a mouthful, local carriers make up various terms for it, such as “Service Area” by Pacific Bell in California, or “Regional Calling Area” by Verizon in Maryland.

In order to 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 area codes.

[edit] List of LATAs

Contents
Top Non U.S. states

[edit] U.S. state LATAs

The city or place name given with some LATAs is the name given to identify the LATA, not the limit of its boundary. Generally this is the most significant metropolitan area in the LATA. Also, listing under a state does not necessarily limit the LATA's territory to that state; there may be overlaps as well as enclaves. Areas that include notable portions of other states are explained, but not all LATA state overlaps may be detailed.

LATA boundaries are not always solidly defined. Inter-carrier agreements, change proposals to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and new wiring developments into rural areas can and do often alter the effective borders between LATAs. Many sources on LATA boundary information conflict with each other at detailed levels. Telcordia data may provide the most up-to-date details of LATA inclusions.

[edit] Alabama

[edit] Alaska

  • 832

[edit] Arizona

[edit] Arkansas

[edit] California

[edit] Colorado

[edit] Connecticut

  • 920

[edit] Delaware

[edit] Washington, D.C.

[edit] Florida

Map of FL 5-digit LATAs
Map of FL 5-digit LATAs
  • Florida is a special case in which they use a 5-digit LATA code as overlaying a 3-digit code area. See map on the right for details. Some carriers may refer to these by the 3-digit LATA, others by the 5-digit.

[edit] Georgia

[edit] Hawaii

  • 834

[edit] Idaho

[edit] Illinois

[edit] Indiana

[edit] Iowa

[edit] Kansas

[edit] Kentucky

[edit] Louisiana

[edit] Maine

  • 120

[edit] Maryland

[edit] Massachusetts

[edit] Michigan

[edit] Minnesota

[edit] Mississippi

[edit] Missouri

[edit] Montana

  • 648 Great Falls
  • 650 Billings
  • 963 Kalispell (unverified)
    • note: LATA 963 appears on many LATA lists, and at least one map, but no exchanges are listed for it. Other current references place Kalispell wholly within LATA 648.

[edit] Nebraska

[edit] Nevada

[edit] New Hampshire

[edit] New Jersey

[edit] New Mexico

  • 664

[edit] New York

[edit] North Carolina

[edit] North Dakota

[edit] Ohio

[edit] Oklahoma

[edit] Oregon

[edit] Pennsylvania

[edit] Rhode Island

  • 130 Rhode Island

[edit] South Carolina

[edit] South Dakota

  • 640

[edit] Tennessee

[edit] Texas

[edit] Utah

[edit] Vermont

  • 124 Vermont
    • Includes West Lebanon and West Chesterfield, New Hampshire

[edit] Virginia

[edit] Washington

[edit] West Virginia

[edit] Wisconsin

  • 350 Northeast Wisconsin
  • 352 Northwest Wisconsin
  • 354 Southwest Wisconsin
  • 356 Southeast Wisconsin

[edit] Wyoming

  • 654

[edit] U.S. territory LATAs

[edit] Non-U.S. LATAs (non-regulatory)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b LATA 228 includes all of Delaware as well as the metro area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  2. ^ a b Half of LATA 636 occupies eastern North Dakota, the other half takes up the northwest quarter of Minnesota.
  3. ^ American Samoa entered the NANP in October 2004 and presumably was allocated a LATA by that time. Telcordia LERG data suggests that American Samoa uses LATA 884.
  4. ^ As of 2000, all of Canada is identified as LATA 888.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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