QoS based pricing in IP Networks V.K. Agarwal, Dy. Advisor Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) 7/11/2019 TRAI

Emerging Trends Convergence of telecom, broadcasting and media sector is one of most significant phenomenon Deployment of IP based networks by telecom operators primarily for reducing CAPEX and OPEX New managed networks and technologies like MPLS are getting more popular Burden of network management is being shifted to services providers from end users 7/11/2019 TRAI 2 2

Emerging Trends (contd.) Such networks are capable to provide guaranteed quality of service resulting in efficient use of available bandwidth and still have the very simple network architecture Variety of services like virtual private networks, peer-to-peer file transfer, video conferencing etc. can be provided using such networks. 7/11/2019 TRAI

Overview of Managed Networks The recent trends suggest a shift from point-to-point connectivity to point-to-multipoint managed connectivity 7/11/2019 TRAI 4 4

Services over Managed Networks Some of the managed services being offered by service providers under different tariff packages are: Secured IP services Managed Data Network Services Managed Internet Services Transactional Routing services Enterprise hosting service VPN and VPN Tunnel service Enhanced VPN service 7/11/2019 TRAI

Benefits of Managed Networks Higher network efficiencies and reduction in CAPEX and OPEX, as no need to have separate leased lines for Internet and normal data connectivity requirement at multiple locations. Supports multiple QoS levels for voice, video and data traffic. Enable high data intensive services to the enterprise and corporate users including IP-VPN, MPLS-VPN etc. Better security, flexibility and scalability, simplicity, manageability and better traffic engineering 7/11/2019 TRAI 6

Parameters for Managed Connectivity Number and type of customers sites (Managed or Unmanaged) Type of protocols being used and to be supported between customer’s edge router and the service provider’s router. ( Existing and future services) Class of Services support required for different type of traffic to be carried over the network. Internet connectivity, content filtering with conditional access list

Major Pricing Components of MPLS based networks Local access MPLS port charge: MPLS platform provides IP MPLS Ports capability of different speeds such as 56k to T1/E1, E-3, STM1/OC3, STM1/OC3, STM4 etc. MPLS Class of Service charges

QoS: Prioritize by Traffic Type Level 4: Real time (voice, interactive video) Level 3: Business interactive ( Systems Network Architecture [SNA], SAP etc) Level 2: Real time (streaming video, network management) Level 1: Business LAN-to-LAN (Internet Web, IBM Lotus Workplace, Novell GroupWise, and others) Level 0: Best-effort data (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol [SMTP], FTP, Internet Web, and others)

Overview of MPLS Class of Service

Pricing with different Class of Service Single CoS Price No CoS Surcharge Class of Service Surcharge Differentiated CoS Pricing For each CoS, the provider meets specified criteria for latency, jitter, and packet loss etc.

Service Level Agreements ITU Rec. M.3350 has defined Service Level Agreement as follows: “A formal negotiated agreement between two parties. It is a contract that exists between the Service Provider (SP) and the Service Customer (SC). It is designed to create a common understanding about service, quality, priorities, responsibilities etc. SLAs can cover many aspects of the relationship between the SC and the SP, such as performance of services, customer care, billing, service provisioning, etc.”

Parameters incorporated in the SLAs Access Installation time Port connection and activation time % packet losses Round Trip Delay Jitter Site Availability per month Maximum Time to Repair Cumulative down time for contract period Penalty/ Compensation for breach of SLA In practice SLAs are not cost based while price prescribed through tariff order are generally cost based. MPLS SLAs will require a broader range of service level metrics as compared to the solutions based on traditional technologies

Thank You 7/11/2019 TRAI