Nexus Workstream 30 April 2009

We have the technology… We can rebuild it… Better… Stronger… Faster… And there’s more than 6 million dollars to do it!

What is funded? GDPCR: “xoserve has been funded for their existing services including the replacement of UK Link on a like-for-like basis and therefore any change that rewrites their obligations will affect the level of costs they incur, both up and down”. “We would not expect xoserve to charge more to users than the incremental cost of the change in this circumstance”. Or… UK link is a ‘vanilla’ service, but Users Pays allows for a choice of toppings. Allowed revenue is not determined by eventual project spend – there is incentive to be cost efficient!

What is like-for-like? This is not prescribed and therefore subject to debate… to an extent like-for-like services will perform broadly the same function (not necessarily in the same way) as those currently set out in the UNC. However, we would expect improvements: where business rules have been written to reflect systems constraints, particularly around permitted volumes and process lead times etc, and in line with the natural evolution of the arrangements, i.e. incremental modifications. There may also be opportunity to make savings by identifying and removing redundant processes; this could offset additional costs elsewhere.

What is not funded? Again, subject to discussion, but likely to be: Services which are not already catered for in the UNC (i.e. provision of SPA to iGTs); Anything which is manifestly a User Pays service. Additional and varied services can be delivered at reduced marginal cost if delivered as part of Nexus – if not funded by GDPCR, User commitment provides an alternative. Therefore, scope may be influenced by ROM costing for each proposal - where do your priorities lie?

What happens to live and future mod proposals There will be no official moratorium on modification proposals which may impact upon UK Link; However, we would encourage parties to fully engage in the Nexus process and take the project into account before raising proposals; We will increasingly expect assessment of the benefits of bringing any change in ahead of Nexus, and a robust business case for that investment – i.e. does the short shelf life provide sufficient pay back; and It may be reasonable to place a freeze on the implementation of new modifications nearer to Nexus go-live.