Intralata calling

Overview
LATAs were set up as a result of the landmark breakup of AT&T called divestiture. Divestiture was implemented on January 1, 1984. The LATA is a geographic area wherein the local carrier, such as U S West, provides all the land line-based telecommunications services. Access refers to the customer’s connection to the public-switched network. The phone line that connects to U S West’s central office gives a customer “access” to the outside world. Within the LATA, U S West is designated to carry, or transport, all of the calls.

Picture below demonstrates the concepts of access and transport. Ron “rents” a phone line each month so he can have “access” to his friends via the telephone. When Ron dials the number, the local telephone company “transports” the call to Bev’s phone. A call originating and terminating within the same LATA is called an intralata call. Depending on the carrier, intralata calls may show up on local phone bills under any of the following headings:

- Local toll calls;

- Local calls;

- Long-distance calls;

- Itemized calls;

-Regional toll calls;

- Toll calls;

- Measured calls.


Since divestiture, local telephone companies have provided access and transport for all calls within the LATA.

Even though long-distance rates dropped significantly in the decade after divestiture, intralata call rates remained fairly level during this time. It was not uncommon for a business in Dallas, Texas, to pay $0.15 per minute to call Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but pay $0.25 per minute to call to Ft. Worth, Texas. Customers thought call rates should be lower if the person called is only a short distance away. Due to a lack of competition for intralata calling, local carriers did not reduce their rates. Customers began to look elsewhere for service, and the first place they looked was their long-distance carriers.