Dark Fibre Workshop Breakout Group II TF-MSP 9-10 November 2010

Fibre Testing and Acceptance ›Important to bind the supplier to maximum levels of fibre degradation over lifetime of service ›Define What kinds of measurements are included? ›Range of wavelengths: 1350; 1550; 1650 nm ? ›(see NORDUnet documents – linked from agenda page) ›Need to assign power-loss budget per Km ›(loss in countryside less than in city) ›Assign a loss budget per splice ›Original Design must define a power-loss budget with allowances for degradation over time as fibres age, and for repairs and other additional work ›If fibre falls before minimum spec it should be replaced ›Understand the type of Monitoring Offered ›should not effect service traffic (may be problem above 10G) Slide 2

Design ›Plan in sufficient redundancy in topology ›Considerations for co-location spaces: ›Permanence: Not likely to relocate, disappear or become untenable ›It is expensive/disruptive to have to re-route fibre to new co-lo space ›Does the co-lo space offer 24 hour access ›Sufficient and redundant power/cooling? ›Level of Professionalism of management and operation ›Try and incorporate spare fibre pairs in design to allow for migrations ›Do not attach too much importance to supplier monitoring ›Most NRENs undertake sufficient monitoring themselves Slide 3

Business/Contractual Aspects ›Have the network implemented by as few suppliers as possible (to the extent allowed by procurement rules) ›SLA’s can in some cases exclude unavailability for reasons of fibre cuts and scheduled maintenance ›(What is the true value of such SLAs) ›Some suppliers will agree to SLAs and will make a bank guarantee of percentage of contract value from which penalties can be drawn ›Need to consider the value of SLAs in each case. ›Maybe the “unhappy customer approach” brings better results if you have annual spend on fibre each year and there are alternative suppliers. Slide 4

Build a Dedicated Team of Experts ›Deal with Suppliers and Sub-contractors for fibre installations is a new role for the NREN community. ›It is a task that needs specialist skills to negotiate: specifications; contracts; SLA’s; penalties; legal aspects; operational; testing; acceptance; performance monitoring.... ›It is wise to build a dedicated team that undertakes: ›Acquisition (and Contracts) ›Contracts with your network NOCs ›Management of the Project Slide 5