As a registered telecom provider with the state, you need to file at least one interconnection agreement (the telecom equivalent of a peering agreement) with th

As a registered telecom provider with the state, you need to file at least one interconnection agreement (the telecom equivalent of a peering agreement) with the regulatory body showing that you are connected with the incumbent (Verizon) or someone who's going to transit calls for you to the incumbent. The state won't let you take on calls as a local access provider if they're going to end up going nowhere. You also have a regulated obligation to provide working 911 service so you need to interconnect with the incumbent's 911 tandem switches. So, off the bat, you have multiple connections with or to Verizon. Now, if there are some really popular people in your building who attract a certain amount of calls, YES, you can demand that the other telecom carriers extend facilities to your switch (which is located in your basement). Those carriers will decide if they want to build facilities to you, or work with another carrier (remember the one interconnection agreement you had to sign?), to pay them to deliver calls to you on the agreement that they have enough facilities with you. You are compensated, per minute for any call that terminates on your skyscraper network through a process called reciprocal compensation, whose rates are laid out in the interconnection agreement you signed. Is old-timey Verizon's attitude starting to make sense?