exchange

1. A room or building equipped so that telephone lines terminating there may be interconnected as required. Note: The equipment may include manual or automatic switching equipment. 2. In the telephone industry, a geographic area (such as a city and its environs) established by a regulated telephone company for the provision of local telephone services. 3. In the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) a local access and transport area (LATA). 4. A geographic area tariffed by a state utilities commission and served by an incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (LEC). A LEC’s franchise territory is comprised of multiple Exchanges and the Basic Local Calling Areas are defined by Exchanges. The Exchanges are generally in the state General Subscriber Services Tariff, Section A3. The term “Exchange” denotes a geographic area generally smaller than a Local Access Transport Area (LATA) and usually embraces a city, town or village and its environs. Subscribers in a given Exchange area may be served by one or more central offices together with the associated facilities or subscribers in an Exchange area may be served by a central office located in an adjacent Exchange area. (A LATA is usually comprised of multiple Exchanges.)