Inter-tandem conveyance meaning

In telecoms interconnection practice, inter‑tandem conveyance is the wholesale carriage of calls routed via two tandem switches, including the switching at the tandem nodes and the transmission path between them. It arises where traffic handed over at one tandem must traverse the network to a different tandem before onward routing. The term is not defined in primary legislation or case law. It is an industry and regulatory expression used in operator reference offers and interconnect agreements (for example, BT’s Standard Interconnect Agreement and price lists in the UK, and eir’s Reference Interconnect Offer in Ireland) and in Ofcom and ComReg regulatory materials. Key features include: - A transit function distinct from local or single‑tandem conveyance. - Distance‑related charging, commonly subdivided into three distance bands (short, medium and long) as specified in the relevant price control or operator tariff. - Relevance to wholesale call origination/termination, interconnect billing, and disputes on cost orientation and non‑discrimination where SMP charge controls apply. Usage and meaning are broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, although naming conventions and band thresholds may vary by operator and regulatory period, and legacy PSTN concepts may have IP‑based equivalents.