An IXC (Inter-eXchange Carrier) is a telephone company that is responsible for handling long distance telephone calls. A long distance telephone call refers to any call made to an area outside of the caller’s LATA (Local Access and Transport Area), which the caller’s local telephone company usually handles. While local telephone companies may forward a long distance call to an IXC, which will then forward the call to a phone company in the recipient’s LATA, most telephone companies serve as both local and long distance carriers.

How IXC Works

If a local telephone company serves as its own IXC, it will simply forward any long distance calls that its subscribers make to a telephone company in the recipient’s LATA, which will then pass the call to the recipient. If a local telephone company outsources its long distance services to an IXC company, the IXC will collect the call from the local telephone company and forward it to a telephone company in the recipient’s LATA, which will then pass the call to the recipient in the same manner, simply serving as a middle man for small telephone companies that are not setup to handle long distance calls themselves.

Applications

IXCs are used for long distance telephone communication between callers and recipients in separate LATAs. While a LATA may cover several cities, it does not necessarily cover an entire state and may cross over state borders. In order to manage calls over long distances, an IXC must manage a large network of telephone lines that connect multiple LATAs together or transfer calls via other means, such as radio towers or satellites.

Advantages

IXCs are advantageous because they allow telephone subscribers to communicate with recipients in other areas, such as other states or even other countries. While IXC services may be expensive for local telephone companies, it is much cheaper to outsource long distance calls than it is to install the various types of equipment necessary to handle long distance calls between separate LATAs.