were part of a larger restructuring of the domestic telecommunications industry which took place during the 1980s and are commonly, if inaccurately, seen as one event. The historical Bell System domination of the United States telecommunications industry was also the de facto standard for other telephone companies such as GTE and other “independent” telephone companies. Equipment Canada The demarcation point varies from building type and service level. In its simplest form, the demarcation point is a junction block where telephone extensions join to connect to the network. This junction block usually includes a lightning arrester (which requires a wire to ground). In multi-line installations such as businesses or apartment buildings, the demarcation point may be a punch down block. In most places this hardware existed before deregulation. United States In the United States, the modern demarcation point is a device defined by FCC rules (47 C.F.R. Part 68) to allow safe connection of third-party telephone customer-premises equipment and wiring to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The modern demarcation point is the network interface device (NID) or intelligent network interface device (INID) also known as a "smartjack". The NID is the telco's property. The NID may be outdoors (typically, mounted on the building exterior in a weatherproof box) or indoors. The NID is usually placed for easy access by a technician. It also contains a lightning arrestor, fuse and test circuitry which allows the carrier to remotely test whether a wiring fault lies in the customer premises or in the carrier wiring, without requiring a technician at the premises. The demarcation point has a user accessible RJ-11 jack (a "test jack" or "demarcation jack"), which is connected directly to the telephone network, and a small loop of telephone cord connecting to the jack by a modular connector. When the loop is disconnected, the on-premises wiring is isolated from the telephone network and the customer may directly connect a telephone to the network via the jack to assist in determining the location of a wiring fault. In most cases, everything from the central office to and including the demarcation point is owned by the carrier and everything past it is owned by the property owner. As the local loop becomes upgraded, with fiber optic and coaxial cable technologies sometimes replacing the original unshielded twisted pair to the premises, the demarcation point has grown to incorporate the equipment necessary to interface the