Wholesale: Products & Services

Archived System CR SCR072613-1 Detail

Original Description of Change:

Integra would like to confirm CenturyLink’s records of ENNI (External Network to Network Interface) capacity. Integra tracks ENNI capacity internally but we have experienced situations where there is a discrepancy between CenturyLink’s capacity records and our records. Currently, when there is a record discrepancy, we are unable to determine the nature of the discrepancy. These record discrepancies delay service delivery and we have found that investigating the source of these discrepancies is a time consuming process. Integra feels a tool, similar to CFA Validation or Q-Host, which allows CLECs the ability to confirm CenturyLink’s records of ENNI capacity will alert the CLECs to potential record issues early and speed resolution of any records discrepancies.

Original Expected Deliverables: A system that provides CLECs with CenturyLink’s records of ENNI Capacity.

REVISED 8-21-13 Expected Deliverables:

A system that provides CLECs with CenturyLink’s records of Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity.

NOTE: 04-13-18 An updated CenturyLink response was issued to recommend this CR be moved to a Completed status. In actuality, this CR is partially completed since not all of the originally requested functionality was implemented. See the CenturyLInk response for more details.

Status History

Project Meetings

Kim Isaacs – Allstream said she agreed with that approach.

3/21/18 System CMP Meeting SCR110217-1IG ASOG V56 SCR072613-1 - System to confirm Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said these two CRs are associated with the EASE ASR Release 4.0 that had a release effective date of March 19, 2018. Per information from the SME team just prior to the call today, the Release implementation went smoothly; there were a few minor problems identified that have since been resolved. Mark said we will consider moving these CRs to a Completed status in the April CMP meeting.

2/21/18 EASE Release 4.0 ASOG 56 – Additional Customer Overview of revisions to Preorder functionality Immediately following the monthly CMP meeting

Attendees List: Rebekah Byland – Popp Communications Nancy Taylor – Allstream Kim Isaacs – Allstream Letty Walker – CenturyLink Mark Coyne – CenturyLink Susan Lorence – CenturyLink

Letty Walker – CenturyLink told customers that she would be reviewing the Draft document EASE ASR Pre-Order Guide for Release 4.0. The document is associated with the EASE ASR 4.0 Draft GUI documents posted to the CenturyLink Document review site at http://www.centurylink.com/wholesale/cmp/reviewarchivesystem.html associated with notice number SYST.EASE.02.19.18.F.16384.EASEGUIR4.0DrftRelNotes

Letty referred those on the call to pages 13 through 17 where she discussed the EASE Location Inquiry and the addition of the ICSC.

Letty then pointed customers to the EASE Ethernet Inquiry for switched starting on page 18 and provided some information about how that will work.

Letty referred customers to page 21 to review how RUID and EVC will work.

The EASE Release 4.0 is effective March 19, 2018. Letty asked if there were any questions in regard to the Pre-Order changes. There were none. The call concluded at 10:05 AM MT.

2/21/18 System CMP Meeting SCR110217-1IG ASOG V56 SCR072613-1 - System to confirm Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said these two CRs are associated with the EASE ASR Release 4.0. The Allstream System Change Request SCR072613-1 was recently identified as being included in the ASOG Release. The functionality requested in this CR correlates to ASOG Issue 3573 sponsored by CenturyLink. Mark said a walkthrough was conducted on January 16, 2018. The Final Technical Specification notification was sent February 2, 2018 and the Draft GUI Release notification was sent on February 19, 2018. CenturyLink sent a CMP notice on February 14, 2018 to relay that the SME team will provide an additional overview of the enhancements to the Pre-ordering functionality. CenturyLink will conduct that overview immediately following the CMP meeting today. Mark said CLEC Testing was available February 17, 2018. The release effective date is March 19, 2018.

1/17/18 System CMP Meeting Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said that we are beginning to review the Deferred CRs and have started contacting the CR Originators on some of them to determine next steps. The idea is to hopefully move the CRs to a Withdrawn status if that makes sense. Mark then relayed the status of two CRs that we began with:

[SEE CRs SCR112003-03 CSR Data on Bill and SCR010213-1, Extend Hours of IMA Operation FOR MORE INFORMATION}

SCR072613-1 System to confirm Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity Mark Coyne – CenturyLink asked Kim Isaacs, Allstream, if we should work with her or someone else for this CR now that the CR originator is no longer with Integra/Allstream.

Kim Isaacs – Allstream said we should work with her.

Mark Coyne – CenturyLink then asked if those on the call were OK to use the approach that was suggested with the Cbeyond CR for the remaining Deferred CRs. The approach again was to contact the CR Originator and anyone else suggested by our Service Management team to determine if the CR is still valid. We would try for a three month period and then if no response from that customer, we would proceed with moving the CR through the Pending Withdrawal approach. Mark said he had not heard of any objections.

Kim Isaacs – Allstream said the approach was fine as long as another customer had the opportunity to adopt the CR if they wanted to.

Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said yes that was the case.

8/17/16 System CMP Meeting Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said that last month, Kim Isaacs - Electric Lightwave had questioned the CRs that are in Deferred status and what CenturyLink was doing with them. Mark said of the five CRs, two are MTG specific and we would not be looking at those CRs at this time. Of the remaining three CRs, SCR010213-1, SCR072613-1, and SCR112003-03, CenturyLink would be working with the CenturyLink SME teams to see if the functionality is being addressed as part of the planned consolidations before reaching out to the CR originators to determine next steps.

11/20/2013 Monthly Systems CMP Meeting Mark Coyne – CenturyLink reviewed the CenturyLink Draft Response included in the package. The proposed approach is for the Change Request to be moved to a Deferred status while Integra pursues an Industry Standard format for this information. Mark said we had received a response from Integra that indicated that they understood the position but were disappointed that the CR would not be moving forward and that they will continue to ask CenturyLink for the information. Mark said we will plan to move the CR to a Deferred status unless there is any objection. Laurie Roberson – Integra asked if they should get the information from their Service Manager or from the Service Center.

Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said he would confirm it should be from the Service Manager.

NOTE: The request for this information should continue to be requested from a customer’s Service Manager.

10/16/13 Monthly Systems CMP Meeting Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said this Integra Change Request is still in “evaluation” while the SME team considers possible solutions. They are also working with our CenturyLink representatives who participate on national standard committees to determine if there is an Industry Standard format for this. Mark indicated that the SMEs are looking at two industry standard committees for direction: ATIS (Alliance for the Telecommunications Industry Solutions) and the MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum). Mark said we hope to have a draft response by the November CMP meeting.

09/18/13 Monthly Systems CMP Meeting Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said the CR was presented last month and a revision to the CR was received from Integra. Mark said the CR is in “evaluation” while the SME team considers possible solutions and that we hoped to have something to share soon. Mark asked if there were any questions. There were none.

08/21/2013 Monthly Systems CMP Meeting Kim Isaacs – Integra presented the new CR. Kim said after a discussion with their Service Manager, Integra would be updating the CR to change the product from ENNI to Service Provider Customer Access Ports which is the CenturyLink product.

Mark Coyne – CenturyLink asked if there were any other customers on the call that would be interested in this functionality. If customers want to investigate further before responding, they could then send an email to the CMP mailbox. A clarification call for this CR was held on August 5, 2013. Mark said once the revisions to the CR were received, another clarification call may need to occur.

8/5/13 Clarification call meeting minutes FINAL Attendees: Laurie Roberson – Integra Kim Isaacs – Integra Maria Palomino – CenturyLink Bill Elliott – CenturyLink Bill West – CenturyLink Rita Urevig – CenturyLink Mark Coyne – CenturyLink John Hansen – CenturyLink Susan Lorence – CenturyLink Susan Lorence – CenturyLink opened the call and recapped the purpose of a clarification call. She asked Laurie Roberson – Integra to give an overview of the Change Request (CR).

Laurie Roberson – Integra provided an overview of the CR which is to request functionality to track capacity on ENNI and resolve discrepancies between Integra and CenturyLink records.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if the only applicable product is Resale MOE.

Laurie Roberson – Integra said that was true.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said whatever is developed would be applicable to retail MOE (8/12/13 Updates received from Integra in CAPS) AS WELL but said it [RETAIL MOE] is an RSS product.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if it was inventory capacity or circuit capacity that was being requested.

Maria Palomino – CenturyLink said the question was whether this request was for install orders or if it was also on change orders to determine available capacity.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said it is for both new installs and for changes. Kim said Integra would like to insure that capacity is freed up on a disconnect and for add/changes so they can stay in synch with CenturyLink.

Maria Palomino – CenturyLink said that made sense but that sometimes there is a temporary delay if there are internal facilities needed.

Bill Elliott – CenturyLink gave an example of buying one Gig of ENNI and said it sounded like Integra was wanting to keep track of what is connected and communicate that.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said that is correct. The problems that they are having are with the EVC orders. Kim said this is a newer product and they are learning the lingo. She said “thank you” to Bill for clarifying.

Bill Elliott – CenturyLink said this same problem could have been with a UNE port related to EVC capacity.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said right. There may have been some recent changes where orders are now being rejected if they are over capacity.

Bill Elliott – CenturyLink said that it was determined by how it was configured whether it could be oversubscribed - port limited or EVC rate limited.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if the request is for a GUI interface or for an application to application interface.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said they are thinking of a GUI interface similar to Q-Host or the CFA validation tool. Kim said like CEMR has the validation tool, this capability would be to validate the ENNI capacity and see what EVCs are listed. Kim said today they can pull up a DS3 and see how many T1s there are.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if this capability is being requested to be associated with CEMR.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said not necessarily but “the bones” might already be in CEMR with the CFA validation functionality since that is similar to what they are looking for.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked what data would Integra want to be provided back, circuit ids and what other data fields.

The group discussion determined that PON, CCNA/ACNA, circuit ids, and bandwidth should be displayed back as part of the tool.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if it was necessary to discuss the discrepancies that were described in the CR.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said the discrepancies are that CenturyLink and Integra are out of synch somewhere. (8/12/13 Updates received from Integra in CAPS)THEN CENTURYLINK AND INTEGRA NEED [delete AND IT HAS] to [delete BE FIGURED] FIGURE out WHERE THE DISCREPANCY IS through review and discussion. THIS PROCESS [delete WHICH] is resource intensive.

Mark Coyne – CenturyLink asked whether pending activity should be considered.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said that would be helpful if it was readily available.

Maria Palomino – CenturyLink said that was true especially if more than one person is submitting ASRs.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if it was possible to consider the CR in a two phased approach if the pending activity is more difficult to access.

Mark Coyne – CenturyLink said maybe there is a “bare bones” request and then a “wish list” for this CR.

Kim Isaacs – Integra said it would be fine to hear (8/12/13 Updates received from Integra in CAPS) THE VARIOUS alternatives [delete TO ROLLOOUT] but anything [delete EXTRA] FUNCTIONALITY would be helpful at this point.

Susan Lorence – CenturyLink asked if there were any other questions. There were none. Susan recapped the next steps which is for Integra to present the CR in the August 21 CMP monthly System meeting. Susan said a draft response would then be provided whether CenturyLink was accepting or denying the CR. Susan said both Integra and CenturyLink should use the CMPCR mailbox if there were any questions or further clarifications.

The clarification call concluded at 12:50 PM MT.

CenturyLink Response

April 13, 2018

Kim Isaacs Allstream

This letter is an updated CenturyLink Response to CLEC Change Request number SCR072613-1, entitled “System to confirm Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity”.

CR Background: This CR was submitted in late July 2013 and was originally titled “System to confirm ENNI (External Network to Network Interface) Capacity”. A clarification call was held in early August 2013 and the CR was presented in the August 2013 monthly CMP meeting. At that time, a revision to the CR was made to be specific to Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity vs. External Network to Network Interface (ENNI) Capacity.

This CR requests that a tool be developed, similar to CFA Validation or Q-Host, which allows CLECs the ability to confirm CenturyLink’s records of Service Provider Customer Access Port capacity. The tool would alert a CLEC to potential record issues between the CLEC and CenturyLink early allowing a more speedy resolution of any records discrepancies.

CenturyLink Response: On November 14, 2013, CenturyLink issued a draft response that proposed that the CR be placed in a Deferred status while Allstream/Integra takes the requested functional change to an industry standard committee, e.g., MEF, to develop a national standard to provide this type of information. The CR remained in Deferred status from November 2013 to January 2018. During January 2018, as CenturyLink was reviewing Deferred CMP CRs, it was determined by the ASR SME team that the requested functionality was included in the ASOG 56/EASE Release 4.0 that was to be implemented on March 19, 2018. It was agreed between Allstream and CenturyLink that the Deferred CR be moved to a Development status and tracked through implementation. On March 23, 2018, based on testing and detail review by Kim Isaacs – Allstream, Kim identified that only a portion of the requested functionality included in the CR was implemented in the EASE Release 4.0. Kim requested that CenturyLink consider what it would take to pull all the data points (RUID, EVCs, EVC NC/NCI Codes) on to one response. In the future, either CenturyLink or Allstream may continue to pursue this remaining functionality at an industry standard Committee so a national standard for record formats and data requirements for all impacted companies can be developed. Once the industry agrees upon a proposed solution nationally, at that point it will be included in a full ASOG release. Until then, CenturyLink agrees with Kim’s proposal to close this CR as partially completed.

Sincerely, Susan Lorence CenturyLink CMP CR Project Manager

INITIAL RESPONSE November 14, 2013

Laurie Roberson Kim Isaacs Integra

This letter is a Draft Response to CLEC Change Request number SCR072613-1, entitled “System to confirm Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity”.

CR Background: This CR was submitted in late July 2013 and was originally titled “System to confirm ENNI (External Network to Network Interface) Capacity”. A clarification call was held in early August and the CR was presented in the August monthly CMP meeting. At that time, a revision to the CR was made to be specific to Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity vs. External Network to Network Interface (ENNI) Capacity.

This CR requests a tool be developed, similar to CFA Validation or Q-Host, which allows CLECs the ability to confirm CenturyLink’s records of Service Provider Customer Access Port capacity. The tool would alert a CLEC to potential record issues between the CLEC and CenturyLink early allowing a more speedy resolution of any records discrepancies.

In review of the requirements associated with this system CR and considering the high level deliverables that would need to be developed associated with it, the CenturyLink SME team has considered the current volume of these types of requests. That volume currently is relatively low. The SME team has also evaluated this Integra Change Request with our CenturyLink representatives who participate on national industry standard committees to determine if there is an Industry Standard format for this type of information. The two industry standard committees that have been considered to provide some direction are ATIS (Alliance for the Telecommunications Industry Solutions) and the MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum). The SME team found that there is currently no national standard to provide this type of information. Rather than developing a unique company solution for this tool to provide Service Provider Customer Access Port Capacity information, CenturyLink proposes that this CR be placed in a Deferred status while Integra takes this request to a national industry standard committee, e.g., MEF. This would allow the appropriate industry body to consider this request for enhanced functionality and develop a national standard for record formats and data requirements for all impacted companies to implement.

Sincerely, Susan Lorence CenturyLink CMP CR Project Manager