and then reselling them retail or a combination of both. The second option helps CLECs to avoid buying switches, fiber optic transmission facilities or colocation facilities.Many have hinted at the fact that hosted voip providers have much in common with CLECS and in fact, could be the new CLECs.

What is a CLEC? It is a company which provides local telephone service — other than the incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (LEC). Much like a LEC, a CLEC will provide telephone service within a LATA. To handle InterLATA long-distance calls, the CLEC will connect to an IXC (IntereXchange Carrier). Quite often, CLEC’s will use the local loop (UNE-L) belonging to the incumbent Local Exchange Carrier.