ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) A company providing local telephone service prior to the introduction of local competition, which introduced one or more competitive LECs (CLECs). In the United States, an ILEC is a company that as of February 8, 1996 provided telephone exchange services to the area in which it was authorized to provide service and was permitted to participate as a member of the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA). See also carrier, IXC, and NECA. |