Interconnection Policy
It is the policy of the Scott County Telephone Cooperative (SCTC), the incumbent local exchange carrier for rural Scott County, Virginia, in accordance with the stipulations of The Telecommunications Act of 1996 to provide connectivity with full and fair access to its network. The specific terms and conditions of the provided access will be determined by and set forth in a formal interconnection agreement negotiated between the Cooperative and each prospective applicant. This interconnection agreement will state the purpose of the desired access and outline the facilities, policies and standards necessary to enact the desired connection as well as list the costs, billing schedules and technical support terms necessary to facilitate the desired connection. The interconnection agreement should outline and dictate the terms required for physical access to either the public switch telephone network and facilities or the data transit network or both, if necessary. These terms should include but not necessarily be limited to such items as equipment compatibility and physical connectivity, routing policies, acceptable use policies, technical standards, dispute resolution, response times, escalation procedures and coordination of network operations. Also detailed in the agreement will be the compensation and payment schedules for all provided services and any mutual compensation agreed upon for any exchanged information. In summary, due to the widely varied needs of prospective providers seeking access to the Scott County Telephone Cooperative network as well as the rapidly changing state of equipment and technology, all specific information relating to a request for interconnection or access to the network will be agreed upon and dictated by the terms and conditions of a specific Interconnection Agreement negotiated by the two parties involved in order to facilitate the unique access needs of each provider seeking access.