Title 47 CFR Part 68 is a section of the

Code of Federal Regulations In the law of the United States, the ''Code of Federal Regulations'' (''CFR'') is the codification of the general and permanent regulatory law, regulations promulgated by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the ...

of the United States that regulates the direct

electrical connection Components of an electrical circuit are electrically connected if an electric current can run between them through an electrical conductor. An electrical connector is an electromechanical device used to create an electrical connection betwee ...

of telecommunications equipment and customer premises wiring with the

public switched telephone network The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the aggregate of the world's telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local telephony operators. It provides infrastructure and services for public telephony. The PSTN consists o ...

, certain

private line In telecommunications, a private line is typically a telephone company service that uses a dedicated, usually unswitched point-to-point circuit, but it may involve private switching arrangements, or predefined transmission physical or virtual p ...

services, and connection of private branch exchange (PBX) equipment to certain

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

interfaces.

Scope

*The direct

connection Connection may refer to: Mathematics *Connection (algebraic framework) *Connection (mathematics), a way of specifying a derivative of a geometrical object along a vector field on a manifold * Connection (affine bundle) *Connection (composite bun ...

of telecommunications equipment and customer premises wiring with the

and certain

services, such as **foreign

exchange Exchange or exchanged may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Exchange (film), or ''Deep Trap'', 2015 South Korean psychological thriller * Exchanged (film), 2019 Peruvian fantasy comedy * Exchange (TV program), 2021 Sou ...

lines at the customer premises end **the station end of off-premises stations associated with PBX and

Centrex Centrex is a portmanteau of central exchange, a kind of telephone exchange. It provides functions similar to a PBX, but is provisioned with equipment owned by, and located at, the telephone company premises. Centrex service was first install ...

services **

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure, and the stem of woody plants * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Comput ...

-to-station tie lines at the trunk end only **switched service network station lines, ''i.e.'',

common control In telecommunications, common control is a principle of switching telephone calls in an automatic telephone exchange that employs shared control equipment which is attached to the circuit of a call only for the duration of establishing or otherwis ...

switching arrangements *The direct connection of **all PBX and similar systems to private line services for

tie trunk A tie line, also known as a tie trunk, is a telecommunication circuit between two telephone exchanges or two extensions of a private telephone system. See also *Private branch exchange * Circuit ID *Leased line *Private line In telecommunicatio ...

type interfaces, **off-premises station lines, and (3) automatic identified outward dialing ( AIOD) and

message A message is a unit of communication that conveys information from a sender to a receiver. It can be transmitted through various forms, such as spoken or written words, signals, or electronic data, and can range from simple instructions to co ...

registration. Part 68 rules provide the technical and procedural standards under which direct

of customer-provided

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

equipment, systems, and protective apparatus may be made to the nationwide

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

without causing harm and without a requirement for protective circuit arrangements in the service-provider networks. The equivalent European regulation is called

TBR21 TBR21 is a European telecommunications standard published by ETSI, and is the standard to which all telephone equipment must adhere to, to be allowed connection to Europe's public switched telephone network The public switched telephone network (P ...

References

FCC 47 CFR Part 68
section 68.502 superseded by T1.TR5-1999
Title 47 CFR Part 68

External links

ACTA documentsT1.TR5-1999
Local loop United States communications regulation Code of Federal Regulations {{telephony-stub