Common use of Ordering and Billing Clause in Contracts

Ordering and Billing. 7.1 AT&T-21STATE shall allow CLEC to place service orders and receive phone number assignments (for new lines). These activities shall be accomplished by electronic interface. AT&T-21STATE shall provide interface specifications for electronic access for these functions to CLEC. However, CLEC shall be responsible for modifying and connecting any of its systems with AT&T-21STATE -provided interfaces, as outlined in Attachment OSS. Methods and procedures for ordering are outlined in the CLEC Handbook, available on-line, as amended by AT&T-21STATE in its sole discretion from time to time. All Parties agree to abide by the procedures contained therein. 7.2 CLEC will have the ability to report trouble for its End Users to the appropriate AT&T-21STATE trouble reporting center(s) twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. CLEC will be assigned customer contact center(s) when initial service agreements are made. CLEC End Users calling AT&T-21STATE will be referred to CLEC at the 7.3 Prior to submitting an order under this Agreement, CLEC shall obtain End User authorization as required by applicable federal and state laws and regulations, and assumes responsibility for applicable charges as specified in Section 258(b) of the Act. AT&T-21STATE shall abide by the same applicable laws and regulations. 7.4 Only an End User can initiate a challenge to a change in its local service provider. If an End User notifies AT&T- 21STATE or CLEC that the End User requests local exchange service, the Party receiving such request shall be free to provide service to such End User, except in those instances where the End User's account is local PIC protected. It is the responsibility of the End User to provide authorization in a FCC approved format to the current provider of record to remove local service provider protection before any changes in local service provider are processed. AT&T- 21STATE shall be free to connect an End User to any competitive local exchange carrier based upon that competitive local exchange carrier’s request and that competitive local exchange carrier’s assurance that proper End User authorization has been obtained. CLEC shall make any such authorization it has obtained available to AT&T- 21STATE upon request and at no charge. 7.5 When an End User changes or withdraws authorization, each Party shall release customer-specific facilities in accordance with the End User's direction or the direction of the End User's authorized agent. Further, when an End User abandons its premise, AT&T-21STATE is free to reclaim the facilities for use by another customer and is free to issue service orders required to reclaim such facilities. 7.6 Neither Party shall be obligated by this Agreement to investigate any allegations of unauthorized changes in local exchange service (slamming) on behalf of the other Party or a Third Party. If AT&T-21STATE, on behalf of CLEC, agrees to investigate an alleged incidence of slamming, AT&T-21STATE shall charge CLEC an investigation fee as set forth in the applicable tariff. 7.7 When AT&T-21STATE receives a service request to convert an End User from one local service provider to another, AT&T-21STATE will process the conversion as requested. AT&T-21STATE will notify the former local service provider that it has lost the End User via the AT&T-21STATE line loss notification process. This Section shall not apply to new or additional lines and services purchased by the End User from multiple CLECs or from AT&T-21STATE. 7.8 Unless otherwise stated, AT&T-21STATE will render monthly bill(s) to CLEC for the services contemplated hereunder at the rates set forth in this Agreement, as set forth in applicable tariffs or other documents specifically referenced herein and, as applicable, as agreed upon by the Parties or authorized by a Party. Subject to Section 8.4.5, remittance in full of all bills rendered is due within thirty (30) calendar days of each bill date (the “Bill Due Date”). If any charge becomes past due, the unpaid amounts will accrue interest from the Bill Due Date at the lesser of (i) one and one-half percent (1 ½%) per month and (ii) the highest rate of interest that may be charged under Applicable Law, compounded daily from the day following the Bill Due Date to and including the date that the payment is actually made and available. 7.9 Interexchange carried traffic (for example, sent-paid, information services and alternate operator services messages) received by AT&T-21STATE for billing to resold End User accounts will be returned as unbillable and will not be passed to CLEC for billing. An unbillable code will be returned with those messages to the carrier indicating that the messages originated from a resold account and will not be billed by AT&T-21STATE. 7.10 As-Is Orders. Orders for Resale Services placed by CLEC to convert an existing account “as-is”, without any changes, additions or deletions requested by CLEC, may be submitted by CLEC in an “AS-IS” format in accordance with AT&T- 12STATE LSOR, and AT&T-21STATE may not require CLEC to submit such order in an “AS-SPECIFIED” format to (1) accommodate any limitations AT&T-21STATE’s Operational Support Systems or Methods and Procedures may have to process such orders or (2) remove any features or products (e.g., optional calling plans) not made available for resale by AT&T-21STATE. 7.11 When an End User converts existing service to CLEC resold service of the same type without any additions or changes, charges for such conversion will apply as set forth in Attachment Pricing or the applicable tariff, and are applied per billable telephone number. 7.11.1 When an End User(s) subscribes to CLEC resold service, recurring charges for the service shall apply at the wholesale discount set forth in the applicable tariff. The rates for such resold service shall continue to be subject to orders of the appropriate Commission. 7.11.2 When CLEC converts an End User(s) existing service and additions or changes are made to the service at the time of the conversion, the normal service order charges and/or non-recurring charges associated with said additions and/or changes will be applied in addition to the conversion charge. Discounts may or may not apply for non-recurring service order charges. 7.11.3 For the purposes of ordering service furnished under this Agreement, each request for new service (that is, service not currently being provided to the End User on AT&T-21STATE network, without regard to the identity of that End User's non-facilities based local service provider of record) shall be handled as a separate initial request for service and shall be charged per billable telephone number.

Ordering and Billing. 7.1 AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS shall allow CLEC to place service orders and receive phone number assignments (for new lines). These activities shall be accomplished by facsimile or electronic interface. AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS shall provide interface specifications for electronic access for these functions to CLEC. However, CLEC shall be responsible for modifying and connecting any of its systems with AT&T-21STATE -provided SBC ILLINOIS - provided interfaces, as outlined in Attachment Appendix OSS. Methods and procedures for ordering are outlined in the CLEC Handbook, available on-line, as amended by AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS in its sole discretion from time to time. All Parties agree to abide by the procedures contained therein. 7.2 CLEC will have the ability to report trouble for its End Users to the appropriate AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS trouble reporting center(s) twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. CLEC will be assigned customer contact center(s) when initial service agreements are made. CLEC End Users calling AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS will be referred to CLEC at thethe number provided by CLEC. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to authorize CLEC to repair, maintain, or in any way touch SBC ILLINOIS’s network facilities, including those on End User premises. 7.3 Prior to submitting an order under this Agreement, CLEC shall obtain End User authorization as required by applicable federal and state laws and regulations, and assumes responsibility for applicable charges as specified in Section 258(b) of the Act. AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS shall abide by the same applicable laws and regulations. 7.4 Only an End User can initiate a challenge to a change in its local service provider. If an End User notifies AT&T- 21STATE SBC ILLINOIS or CLEC that the End User requests local exchange service, the Party receiving such request shall be free to provide service to such End User, except in those instances where the End User's account is local PIC protected. It is the responsibility of the End User to provide authorization in a FCC approved format to the current provider of record to remove local service provider protection before any changes in local service provider are processed. AT&T- 21STATE SBC ILLINOIS shall be free to connect an End User to any competitive local exchange carrier based upon that competitive local exchange carrier’s request and that competitive local exchange carrier’s assurance that proper End User authorization has been obtained. CLEC shall make any such authorization it has obtained available to AT&T- 21STATE SBC ILLINOIS upon request and at no charge. 7.5 When an End User changes or withdraws authorization, each Party shall release customer-specific facilities in accordance with the End User's direction or the direction of the End User's authorized agent. Further, when an End User abandons its premise, AT&T-21STATE SBC ILLINOIS is free to reclaim the facilities for use by another customer and is free to issue service orders required to reclaim such facilities. 7.6 Neither Party shall be obligated by this Agreement to investigate any allegations of unauthorized changes in local exchange service (slamming) on behalf of the other Party or a Third Party. If AT&T-21STATE, on behalf of CLEC, agrees to investigate an alleged incidence of slamming, AT&T-21STATE shall charge CLEC an investigation fee as set forth in the applicable tariff. 7.7 When AT&T-21STATE receives a service request to convert an End User from one local service provider to another, AT&T-21STATE will process the conversion as requested. AT&T-21STATE will notify the former local service provider that it has lost the End User via the AT&T-21STATE line loss notification process. This Section shall not apply to new or additional lines and services purchased by the End User from multiple CLECs or from AT&T-21STATE. 7.8 Unless otherwise stated, AT&T-21STATE will render monthly bill(s) to CLEC for the services contemplated hereunder at the rates set forth in this Agreement, as set forth in applicable tariffs or other documents specifically referenced herein and, as applicable, as agreed upon by the Parties or authorized by a Party. Subject to Section 8.4.5, remittance in full of all bills rendered is due within thirty (30) calendar days of each bill date (the “Bill Due Date”). If any charge becomes past due, the unpaid amounts will accrue interest from the Bill Due Date at the lesser of (i) one and one-half percent (1 ½%) per month and (ii) the highest rate of interest that may be charged under Applicable Law, compounded daily from the day following the Bill Due Date to and including the date that the payment is actually made and available. 7.9 Interexchange carried traffic (for example, sent-paid, information services and alternate operator services messages) received by AT&T-21STATE for billing to resold End User accounts will be returned as unbillable and will not be passed to CLEC for billing. An unbillable code will be returned with those messages to the carrier indicating that the messages originated from a resold account and will not be billed by AT&T-21STATE. 7.10 As-Is Orders. Orders for Resale Services placed by CLEC to convert an existing account “as-is”, without any changes, additions or deletions requested by CLEC, may be submitted by CLEC in an “AS-IS” format in accordance with AT&T- 12STATE LSOR, and AT&T-21STATE may not require CLEC to submit such order in an “AS-SPECIFIED” format to (1) accommodate any limitations AT&T-21STATE’s Operational Support Systems or Methods and Procedures may have to process such orders or (2) remove any features or products (e.g., optional calling plans) not made available for resale by AT&T-21STATE. 7.11 When an End User converts existing service to CLEC resold service of the same type without any additions or changes, charges for such conversion will apply as set forth in Attachment Pricing or the applicable tariff, and are applied per billable telephone number. 7.11.1 When an End User(s) subscribes to CLEC resold service, recurring charges for the service shall apply at the wholesale discount set forth in the applicable tariff. The rates for such resold service shall continue to be subject to orders of the appropriate Commission. 7.11.2 When CLEC converts an End User(s) existing service and additions or changes are made to the service at the time of the conversion, the normal service order charges and/or non-recurring charges associated with said additions and/or changes will be applied in addition to the conversion charge. Discounts may or may not apply for non-recurring service order charges. 7.11.3 For the purposes of ordering service furnished under this Agreement, each request for new service (that is, service not currently being provided to the End User on AT&T-21STATE network, without regard to the identity of that End User's non-facilities based local service provider of record) shall be handled as a separate initial request for service and shall be charged per billable telephone number.other