Written on 4:15 PM by ooe
Provision of metallic pairs is carried out in three stages: the pre-order enquiry, deliver customer order and order acceptance. At the pre-order enquiry stage the operator is provided with information about the customer access line. The operator may wish to have a new metallic pair or to take over an existing one. The line information enables the LLU operator to decide if its service will work over the metallic pair to be provided. The operator may decide not to go ahead with the order if its service will not work because of the distance of the end-user from the exchange. If the operator decides to proceed, BT provides the pair as requested and the operator has two days to decide to accept or reject the pair. This period provides sufficient time to enable the operator to test its service.
The provision of the pair is usually quite straight forward. However, a number of issues need to be considered. The end-user is now a customer of the LLU operator and BT has to rely on the operator to make arrangements for access to their premises. Further complications are introduced if an order is combined with other products such as number portability, carrier pre-selection and/or calls and access.
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Written on 4:15 PM by ooe
Once registration has been completed the LLU operator can order physical collocations or distant locations from the BT exchanges in the geographical areas in which they are interested. At each intended point of presence, a two-stage survey and building process with identified timescales was agreed. This was necessary to establish an audit trail should queries arise.
When LLU was initially launched more than 40 operators registered an interest and there was clearly potential for a large volume of collocation orders. The OPF group agreed that a process was required to manage this bow wave of orders before demand settled down and business as usual processes could be adopted. A demand management process was devised, which was to be operated by the Electoral Reform Society and Oftel, to decide in which order BT would tackle equipping its exchanges. This process was put in place in September 2000. In fact the volume of orders was massively below the industry forecast level and BT was able to handle them without using the bow wave. From December 2000, LLU operators were able to order distant location on a business-as-usual basis. Based on a fuller understanding of what was practicable, in February 2001, BT announced that it could handle demand for collocation space as business-as-usual.
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Written on 4:15 PM by ooe
The gain business process covers registration for LLU service with BT. New contracts have been developed which cover the provision of network information required to enable operators to develop their business plans, and the ordering and maintenance of new LLU products from BT. If operators decide to go ahead with their business cases then registration is completed and BT will set up service accounts for billing purposes.
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Written on 4:15 PM by ooe
Like any large network operator, BT has a large number of complex processes and systems which govern the operation of its access network.
However, it is a starting point from which to determine what would need to be modified. Typical examples of these changes include:
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how appointments are made with the end-user for equipment installation by BT;
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how faults are determined and resolved (that is, whether a fault is in the LLU operator's service area or on the network provided by BT);
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what to do if the end-user contacts BT directly rather than contacting the LLU operator.
These and similar issues were discussed at several OPF meetings which resulted in the interface between BT and the LLU operator being defined. Although this work was completed in April 2000, industry and Oftel requested numerous changes resulting in major reviews. A simplified end-to-end description of the unbundling process is shown below.
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Operator registers for LLU service with BT.
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LLU operator orders points of presence (collocation or distant location).
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BT or contractor builds points of presence.
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LLU operator installs equipment.
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LLU operator requests unbundled loop.
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BT provides unbundled loop.
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LLU operator provides service.
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LLU operator reports faults to BT.
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BT investigates problems.
A number of activities such as billing and field force control are inherent in these steps – threads running through every major process. Add to this the number of scenarios identified for unbundling (over 100) and the scale and complexity of the operational environment starts to be seen.
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Written on 4:14 PM by ooe
LLU operators in many countries have lobbied to be allowed to place equipment in the same rooms as the network owner. They argue that this is the best way to ensure parity of treatment between operators. This raises significant security concerns as local exchange buildings were almost always designed and built for sole use of a single network operator. Cageless collocation is no simpler to implement than physical collocation as provision must be made to connect power services, metallic pairs and backhaul services to the LLU operators equipment. Design calculations to ensure that sufficient air conditioning capacity are more complex in a cageless environment. Safety and security issues are more significant where the LLU operator shares a room with the network owner. In many cases the LLU operators' equipment and people have to satisfy more stringent testing or vetting before being allowed into the equipment rooms.
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Written on 4:14 PM by ooe
Distant location was initially conceived to address the situation where some BT exchanges would offer insufficient accommodation to meet OLO demands for physical collocations. It uses an external tie cable from the BT MDF to premises or street furniture obtained by an LLU operator, near to the BT building. Providing accommodation for distant location is the responsibility of the LLU operator although BT may be sub-contracted to undertake the installation.
Distant location does not require the LLU operator to place equipment in or even to enter the BT building so there are many fewer restrictions on the design of the LLU operator equipment and operations. Distant locations have been built in nearby buildings and in self-contained street cabinets.
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Written on 4:14 PM by ooe
Physical collocation allows LLU operators to place equipment in local exchange buildings and allows their authorised people to gain access to relevant parts of the buildings to operate their networks.
Providing collocation facilities means much more than simply making floor space available. Operators will require power, ventilation and related building services. For security reasons some degree of segregation is required between LLU operators' equipment and network owners' equipment. The agreed design criteria for physical collocation includes:
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LLU operators must be able to source their equipment from the global marketplace.
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A wide range of rack and cabinet sizes to be offered as well as differing power and environmental operating characteristics.
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Different and innovative deployment models were required as each LLU operator would be competing for business within each exchange area. These models might range from a small ‘toe in the water’ presence to an installation able to serve several thousand customer lines from the outset.
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No ‘one size fits all’ constraint.
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Recognition that some LLU operators would wish to have a dedicated room tailored to their stated need, offering a reasonable level of physical security.
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Some operators might wish to collaborate and share a collocation space in an area.
An LLU Hostel product was designed which formed the primary means of responding to demand and meeting the outlined criteria (Figure 7.6). In essence, the LLU Hostel enables an LLU operator to simply order one or more equipment bays – an area of floorspace suitable for equipment racks. Electricity is provided to each bay via an AC final distribution fuseboard providing a designated maximum power load. Expectations that LLU operator demand would be focused on exchange buildings serving the main population centres led to an initial minimum hostel size of two suites. This lower limit was subsequently dropped and a reduced version of the product was introduced to satisfy demand for hostel bays in smaller exchange buildings or where space constraints lead to the adaptation of rooms not originally designed for housing network equipment. Key design features of the LLU Hostel range of collocation spaces includes:
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The use of forced air cooling will generally be made.
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An HDF located at, or close to, the end of each bay. The HDF is used as the interface for internal tie cables provided by BT to the MDF.
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An initial provision of tie pairs to the exchange side of the MDF. Additional ties can be ordered separately.
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Fire/smoke detection.
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Access control. BT has modified its building security systems to allow the other operator's people to access the relevant parts of the buildings without needing to be escorted by BT people.
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An AC power distribution board from which LLU operators take their power feeds.
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A cable support system using ‘unistrut’ ironwork in a simple configuration. The end-product is a ‘ready to go’ environment into which an LLU operator can readily deploy and commission equipment.
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