Wholesale: Products & Services

Archived System CR SCR080502-01EX Detail

Following this prioritization many CLECs voiced concerns about the composition of the IMA 12.0 Release. In response to this concern, Qwest seeks an exception to the Qwest Wholesale Change Management Process Document, Section 10.2.2, which states, ‘If the recommended implementation date for a Industry Guideline CR requires all or a part of a the change to be included in the upcoming Major Release, the CR will not be subject to ranking and will be automatically included in that Major Release, unless Qwest and the CLECs unanimously agree otherwise.’ If Qwest adheres to the existing process, absent unanimous agreement otherwise, the entire IMA Release 12.0 will contain only LSOG (Industry Guideline) CRs. Qwest believes that this fact constitutes “good cause” for seeking an Exception to the process.

Qwest requests that the upcoming IMA 12.0 Release be comprised of approximately 50% Industry Guideline CRs and approximately 50% CLEC and Qwest originated CRs. Qwest proposes that the CRs that make up these percentages be selected according to their rank in the IMA 12.0 prioritization conducted in July, 2002.

Qwest requests an Emergency Call/Meeting, pursuant to Section 16.2, prior to the next Monthly CMP Meeting.

Status History

Project Meetings

Michael Buck/Qwest began the discussion pointing to the initial prioritization list. He reviewed the exception that Qwest initiated, to seek clarity of the path of the 12.0 Release. The exception meeting was held and 2 options were voted on. Option 1 was sticking to the process mandated by the CMP or Option 2 a 50/50 split. Option 2 won the vote. Michael stated that WorldCom had some concern about the option selected and has submitted an exception CR (SCR081402-01EX). Michael stated that WorldCom’s exception CR was initiated in response to the vote of the Qwest request. Michael Buck/Qwest before we get to WorldCom's exception CR, are there any questions on what led us to where we are? There were no questions.

Emergency Meeting held August 14, 2002

MEETING MINUTES

TYPE OF MEETING: EXCEPTION VOTE REQUIRED EMERGENCY CALL/MEETING

DATE, TIME: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14, 2002, 12:00 P.M. 1:00 P.M. MT

Meeting Attendees

CompanyName Attendance Allegiance Telecom Inc.Wicks, Terry On Phone AT&TOsborne-Miller Donna On Phone AT&TScherer, Esthe rOn Phone AT&TSpangler, Jonathan On Phone CovadZulevic, Mike On Phone EschelonJohnson, Bonnie On Phone IntegraAmbrose, Scott On Phone WorldComBalvin, Liz On Phone NCTWilson, Linda On Phone WorldComHines, LeiLani On Phone QwestBuck, Michael In Person QwestEsquibel-Reed, Peggy In Person QwestFoster, Beth In Person QwestGallegos, John In Person QwestStecklein, Lynn In Person QwestThompson, Jeff In Person QwestVeik, Gary In Person QwestWhite, Matt In Person QwestWinston, Connie In Person

August 14, 2002 Exception CR Emergency Call/Meeting Meeting Minutes

The meeting began at 12:00 p.m. MT

Introductions

Michael Buck (Qwest) opened the meeting and asked everyone on the bridge to announce him/herself. All the participants announced themselves.

Michael Buck (Qwest) reviewed what constitutes a quorum. The calculation consists of compiling the number of attendees at the last six days of Monthly CMP Meetings (May, June, July-Product/Process/Systems). The highest and lowest numbers are discarded. If 62.5% or more of the Average Number of Carriers is present, a quorum has been established. Based on the fact that there were 8 carriers on the call, quorum was established.

Michael Buck (Qwest) reviewed the purpose of the call. Qwest seeks an exception to the Qwest Wholesale Change Management Process Document, Section 10.2.2, which states, ‘If the recommended implementation date for an Industry Guideline CR requires all or a part of the change to be included in the upcoming Major Release, the CR will not be subject to ranking and will be automatically included in that Major Release, unless Qwest and the CLECs unanimously agree otherwise.’ If Qwest adheres to the existing process, absent unanimous agreement otherwise, the entire IMA Release 12.0 will contain only LSOG (Industry Guideline) CRs. Qwest believes that this fact constitutes good cause for seeking an Exception to the process.

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated that Qwest is requesting that the upcoming IMA 12.0 Release be comprised of approximately 50% CLEC and Qwest CMP CRs and 50% LSOG CRs. Qwest proposes that the CRs that make up these percentages be selected according to their rank in the IMA 12.0 prioritization conducted in July, 2002. Michael Buck (Qwest) also stated that the default option (vote of no) will indicate a preference to follow the CMP as described in Section 10.2.2 of the Wholesale Change Management Document The IMA 12.0 Release would consist of only LSOG candidates.

Michael Buck (Qwest) asked if there were any questions or comments.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) asked if Qwest believes that they can implement all LSOG 6 candidates in the IMA 12.0 Release.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) stated that even if 12.0 were devoted 100% to LSOG 6 CRs, not all LSOG 6 CRs would be implemented.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) would like it noted that on the 8/14/02 call, Qwest stated that even if 12.0 was devoted 100% to LSOG 6 CRs, not all LSOG 6 CRs would be implemented, thus Qwest would continue to not be able to achieve full LSOG 6 compliance by the recommended implementation date of 3/14/03.

Linda Wilson (NCT) asked when the LSOG 6 candidate for the field numbering and field name change would be implemented.

Connie Winston (Qwest) stated that OBF Issues 1482 and 2111 (field numbering and field name change) are packaged in the IMA 11.0 Release scheduled for deployment in November 18, 2002.

Bonnie Johnson (Eschelon) requested an explanation of what CR’s would be included and wanted further explanation for the purpose of the vote.

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated that this Exception request is not specific to any single Change Request. Qwest is seeking agreement from the CLECs that the upcoming IMA 12.0 Release be comprised of approximately 50% CLEC and Qwest CMP CRs and 50% LSOG CRs. Michael Buck (Qwest) also stated that the default option (vote of no) will indicate a preference to follow the CMP process as described in Section 10.2.2 of the Wholesale Change Management Document – The IMA 12.0 Release would consist of only LSOG candidates.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) referred to the language in the Qwest Wholesale Change Management Process Document, Section 10.2.2, which states, ‘If the recommended implementation date for an Industry Guideline CR requires all or a part of a change to be included in the upcoming Major Release, the CR will not be subject to ranking and will be automatically included in that Major Release, unless Qwest and the CLECs unanimously agree otherwise.’ Liz Balvin (WorldCom) indicated that the WorldCom interpretation of this language would call for Qwest to be LSOG 6 compliant by 3/14/03. Liz Balvin (WorldCom) further indicated that the WorldCom view is that Qwest is ignoring Section 10.2.2. A "no" vote stated that it would indicate a preference to follow the existing CMP process as described in Section 10.2.2 of the Qwest Wholesale Change Management Document. In reality a "no" vote was to indicate a preference to allow Qwest to implement only a portion of LSOG 6, based on the level of effort assigned to LSOG 6 changes versus the the hours and resources available for Release 12.0 as unilaterally determined by Qwest, which, in fact, is not in compliance with Section 10.2.2 of the Qwest Wholesale Change Management Document.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) stated that the current process put LSOG CRs should all be above the line.

Bonnie Johnson (Eschelon) asked if Qwest’s request would split the hours be 20,000 hours for LSOG and 20,000 hours for the other CRs.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) said yes, the hours would be split as evenly as possible.

Donna Osborne-Miller (AT&T) asked if the LSOG 6 CRs would be worked in the order they were prioritized.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) said that if the decision was made to go 50/50 that he would prefer to re-prioritize. Terry Wicks (Allegiance) noted that he might have prioritized the list differently if he’d had that in mind when performing the initial prioritization.

Donna Osborne-Miller (AT&T) said that AT&T agrees with Allegiance’s request

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) said that time is of the essence and Qwest proposed to proceed with development based upon the current prioritization.

LeiLani Hines (WorldCom) asked if there could be a third option.

Michael Buck (Qwest) said that Qwest is willing to entertain other options. However, the purpose of this call is to vote on whether to accept or decline the current Exception Change Request as written. If other options were to be considered, they would need to be submitted as Exception Change Requests per the Wholesale Change Management Process document that attendees agreed to in the Redesign process.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) said that WorldCom disagrees with the proposed two options and believes an alternate option should be brought forward.

Michael Buck (Qwest) reiterated that any CMP participant could submit an Exception Request to propose another option and again reminded everyone of the purpose of this call.

Donna Osborne-Miller (AT&T) said that they understood the purpose of this call but wanted to know if there was a third option.

Linda Wilson (NCT) stated that NCT’s preference would be to go with the CMP prioritization previously conducted.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) stated that WorldCom feels stuck in this position. She indicated that WorldCom believes this is really all about Qwest resources and that the CLECs CRs will continue to be pushed out. She stated that Qwest has only 2 releases scheduled this year when Qwest agreed to have a minimum of 3 releases per year in redesign. Liz Balvin (WorldCom) also stated that Qwest can not even talk about existing CR synergies and WorldCom has previously requested Qwest to provide information on LSOG 6 and LSOG 7. Liz Balvin (WorldCom) noted that Qwest has stated that they will not be able to provide any such information until September.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) stated that WorldCom would like to leave IMA 12.0 as prioritized and have an additional meeting to discuss LSOG going forward.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) addressed WorldCom’s comment on resources. Qwest has 3 Releases scheduled in 2002. There are currently 2 Releases scheduled in 2003 and a plan for 3 Releases to be scheduled in 2004. Jeff Thompson/Qwest noted that the appearance of 2 releases scheduled for 2003 was a scheduling issue, not a decrease in resources. He indicated that the third release for 2003 would be in development during the end of the year and would release into production around February 2004. Regardless of whether there were two or three Releases scheduled during the course of a year, the resources stay constant. Jeff Thompson (Qwest) reiterated that this does not represent a reduction in resources.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) asked if Qwest would still support 120,000 hours.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) stated that it would, but that he did not have the numbers with him, and he was not going to do the math at this moment. Qwest could talk about scheduling in another meeting. Jeff Thompson (Qwest) reiterated that the resources remain constant throughout the course of the year

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) indicated that the current issue is not about pushing CLECs CR’s aside. He stated that the reason Qwest brought forward this Exception CR was to address the concern that LSOG may take up the entire release. The issue is how to manage release capacity within the constraints set forth in the Change Management Processes. Regarding the LSOG 6 and LSOG 7 synergies, he indicated that Qwest was not in a position to accurately assess synergies because OBF had not yet completed definition on the LSOG 7 issues. That information would not likely be available until late September and decisions regarding how to move forward with IMA 12.0 need to be made now.

Donna Osborne-Miller (AT&T) asked if LSOG could fall in a point release.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) said that Qwest could look at that going forward.

Connie Winston (Qwest) noted that Qwest tries to avoid code changes as spillover candidates in point releases. The concern is in the delay in the CLECs ability to use the functionality deployed in this manner.

Linda Wilson (NCT) asked when they could take another vote.

Michael Buck (Qwest) explained that an Exception Request can be submitted by any carrier at any time.

Donna Osborne-Miller (AT&T) asked when the drop-dead date was for changing the order of the CRs Qwest would work for 12.0.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) stated that the date had past.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) said that WorldCom would like IMA 12.0 to be implemented according to the prioritization conducted after the July CMP meeting with a follow-up meeting scheduled to determine how to treat LSOG going forward.

Michael Buck (Qwest) indicated at Qwest desired to follow the processes as outlined in the Wholesale Change Management Process document. Qwest believes that to request an option other than the two options on the table at this meeting would require the initiation of a separate Exception Request.

Donna Osborne-Miller (AT&T) asked if AT&T could have a few minutes off-line to discuss their vote.

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated ‘yes’ and asked that all participants do so. Michael Buck/Qwest further indicated that while the decision-makers for Qwest were not on the call, the representatives from Qwest who were present believed that Qwest may not be inclined to support an Exception requesting that IMA 12.0 be comprised of prioritized CRs at the expense of LSOG CRs. However, Qwest would need to evaluate such an Exception Request before a definitive answer could be given.

Bonnie Johnson (Eschelon) thanked Michael Buck for that input and stated that it would impact Eschelon’s decision.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) asked if Qwest could get the appropriate decision-makers in the room to discuss her proposal further.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) reminded everyone of the purpose of the meeting to vote yes or no on this Exception Request. He stated that if another option was requested, a new Exception CR needed to be submitted.

Michael Zulevic (Covad) stated that he agrees with keeping IMA 12.0 Release as is and recommended discussing this issue in redesign.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) reminded participants that this topic was already brought up in the last redesign session.

Scott Ambrose (Integra) asked what happens going forward with future Releases if everyone voted for the 50/50 option.

Michael Buck (Qwest) said that Qwest’s intent was for this Exception Request to be applicable only to IMA 12.0. For future releases, Qwest would expect to follow the documented processes as agreed to in redesign unless another Exception Request was initiated. He indicated that the vote for IMA 13.0 will take place in the December timeframe.

Bonnie Johnson (Eschelon) stated that the vote participants needed to determine the vote at the current meeting.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) added Tom Dixon (WorldCom) to the conference call and re-stated WorldCom’s position and concern associated with this Exception Request.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) reiterated again why Qwest submitted this Change Request. Qwest feels that this Request is a fair meet point. Qwest is willing to compromise but we can’t totally ignore LSOG and only implement CLEC CRs.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) stated that LSOG 7 is right around the corner and Qwest has put the CLECs in a time crunch.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) asked why this problem wasn’t recognized and addressed as part of a previous release.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) stated that in defense of Qwest, the CLECs were part of the problem associated with the IMA 11.0 Release. He indicated that this problem would exist for 12.0 regardless of how it was addressed for IMA 11.0.

Michael Buck (Qwest) said that Qwest did hold a meeting to discuss LSOG 6 candidates in early January 2002. At that time, Qwest shared concerns with the CMP community regarding the large size of LSOG 6 and the likelihood that to fully implement it would take all or most of two or more releases. Additionally, he pointed out that IMA 11.0 did include a number of LSOG 6 candidates.

Bonnie Johnson (Eschelon) asked if Qwest would look at a 70/30 split.

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated again that Qwest would entertain any additional Exception Requests submitted.

Scott Ambrose (Integra) asked Qwest to define ‘abstain.’

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated that abstain means that the participant elects not to vote. An abstention is neither a Yes or a No vote and therefore does not count one way or the other in calculating unanimity.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) and Bonnie Johnson (Eschelon) both expressed concerns associated with the 13.0 Release and being in the same position as 12.0. Terry Wicks (Allegiance) encouraged participants to think in the long term as well as the short term regarding the need to consider LSOG going forward.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) asked what the chance was of getting another release added to the schedule.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) mentioned the Special Change Request Process (SCRP) as one mechanism to get more resources and dollars.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) asked what are the ramifications of not being in compliance with LSOG were.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) stated that Qwest would represent that it was not in compliance due to a unanimous vote by Qwest and the CLECs to move forward with this Exception Request.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) stated that the issue with WorldCom interpretation of this language requiring Qwest to be completely LSOG 6 compliant with the implementation of 12.0.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) reiterated that Qwest brought this issue forward in a recent redesign meeting and that the CLECs decided that the existing Industry Guideline language was sufficient. Qwest believes that if there are proposed modications to the CMP language or processes that those proposals need to use the processes for change as specified in the Wholesale Change Management Process document.

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) stated that in her view, Qwest had stated that it would obstruct 12.0 re-prioritization. Liz Balvin (WorldCom) asked if it would be possible to reissue this Exception Request listing all the options.

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated that the purpose of this call was to address the Exception Request currently on the table. If there are other options or something new is to be requested, a new Exception Request needs to be submitted and Qwest will follow the documented process for bringing the Exception Request to the entire CMP community.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) asked what the options are on this Exception Change Request.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) reiterated that the purpose of this call and summarized the Exception Change Request on the table.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) said that the perception is that Qwest is bringing forward an ultimatum. He asked why these Change Requests were not done “Above the Line” in 11.0 since that is what the process dictates and they were submitted 1/31/02.

Michael Buck (Qwest) said that the CMP language describing the process had not been baselined when these CRs were submitted. He reiterated that Qwest did host a meeting with the CMP community outlining Qwest’s concerns with the size and scope of LSOG 6.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) added that at last month’s CMP Meeting he brought up the fact that all the LSOG CRs should be Above the Line for 12.0. But that the meeting participants decided to prioritized anyway just to see where everything landed. He stated that the reality is that we need to vote one way or another today on this Exception Change Request.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) stated that it appears that unanimous agreement was reached at the monthly meeting to have prioritized list be the final list of CRs for 12.0

Liz Balvin (WorldCom) stated that Qwest could not provide LSOG 6 and 7 synergies until September.

Connie Winston (Qwest) said that OBF was not done with their LSOG definition and that the OBF forum schedule is it out of Qwest’s control. She indicated that until the OBF definition was completed, any analysis Qwest might do would not be meaningful.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) asked why Qwest did not do more Releases in order to meet the needs of LSOG 6.

Michael Buck (Qwest) stated again that in 2002 there were three Releases: February 9.0, June 10.0 and November 11.0. He indicated that the CRs in question were initiated on January 31, 2002 at which point IMA 9.0 and 10.0 were already significantly into their development life cycle. Therefore, the ability to have included these CRs in those releases was minimal.

Tom Dixon (WorldCom) asked why Qwest didn’t do 4 Releases. He expressed the WorldCom belief that Qwest controls the resources and is using that control to cut into the resources available to CLEC CRs. He expressed his desire to discuss this issue next week in redesign.

Jeff Thompson (Qwest) asked what Tom was objecting to. Qwest does not have unlimited resources and Qwest does not ignore CLEC CRs. He stated that part of the purpose of CMP was to provide procedures for managing finite resources. He indicated that all the CLECs agreed to this language that Qwest is following. He again indicated that redesign had already discussed this and the team agreed that no action needed to be taken. Liz Balvin (WorldCom) asked again if Qwest could get the decision-makers in the room.

Michael Buck (Qwest) said that Qwest came prepared to discuss the Exception Change Request that precipitated the current call. The decision makers for the options on the table in this call are here. He explained that the possibility was very low for getting on such short notice the multiple people necessary to discuss an exception that had not yet been formally created. He indicated that if another Exception Request is received, Qwest will follow the process to schedule the meeting and will come prepared to discuss whatever options are proposed.

Terry Wicks (Allegiance) asked what if an Exception CR was issued today could we discuss at the August 22, 2002 Systems Meeting.

Matt White (Qwest) stated that if Qwest received an Exception Request today, it could issue a notification to hold a vote during the Monthly CMP Systems Meeting on August 22, 2002.

Michael Buck (Qwest) asked if there were any more questions or comments. As there were no more questions or discussion, Michael Buck (Qwest) stated that he would ask each Company to vote Yes, No, or Abstain on whether SCR080502-01EX should be treated as an Exception. He reconfirmed that a “Yes” vote meant agreement to deviate from the process and that IMA 12.0 would be comprised of approximately 50% LSOG CRs and approximately 50% CLEC and Qwest originated CRs. A No vote would indicate the preference that IMA 12.0 be devoted entirely to LSOG candidates.

Following are the results of the vote: (Note: Votes are officially documented in the Vote Tally Form)

Covad Abstain Allegiance Yes AT&T Yes Eschelon Abstain Integra Yes World Com Yes (Liz Balvin (WorldCom) asked that the minutes reflect that WorldCom’s vote was being tendered under an objection to the way Qwest had interpreted the process.) NCT Yes (Linda Wilson (NCT) stated that her vote was tendered under pressure.) Qwest - Yes

The meeting ended at 2:00 p.m. MT

CLEC-QWEST Voting Tally Form Name of Call/Meeting Emergency Call Meeting - SCR080502-01EX Date of Vote: August 14, 2002

Subject: Exception to Section 10.2.2 for IMA 12.0 Prioritization

Voting Carrier Voting Participant (In person, Phone e-mail)

Covad Mike Zulavic/ Phone - Abstain Eschelon Bonnie Johnson/Phone - Abstain Integra Scott Ambrose/Phone - Yes WorldCom Liz Balvin/Phone- Yes AT&T Donna Osborne-Miller/ Phone- Yes NC Telecom Linda Wilson/Phone - Yes Allegiance Terry Wicks/Phone- Yes Qwest Michael Buck/In Person- Yes

Result: Unanimous agreement that Qwest's exception change request (SCR080502-01EX) be treated as an exception request.

CenturyLink Response

Announcement Date: August 19, 2002 Effective Date:Immediately

Notification Number: Notification Category: Change Management Notification Target Audience:CLECs, Resellers Subject:CMP Emergency Call/Meeting Vote Disposition

Associated CR # or System Name and Number:SCR080502-01EX

Pursuant to Sections 16.5 and 17.4.4 of the Qwest Wholesale Change Management Process Document, http://www.qwest.com/wholesale/cmp/whatiscmp.html, this notification announces the disposition of Exception Change Request SCR080502-01EX and the results of the vote taken during the August 14, 2002, Exception Request Emergency Call/Meeting.

In this vote, conducted in accordance with Sections 16.4 and 17.0, the participants unanimously agreed to treat the SCR080502-01EX as an Exception. Accordingly, IMA Release 12.0 will be comprised of approximately 50% Industry Guideline CRs and approximately 50% CLEC and Qwest originated CRs. Qwest will proceed with the CLEC-Qwest OSS Interface Change Request Lifecycle as defined in Section 5.2.

Please see the tally form and meeting minutes for specific voting results (In the Project Meeting Section)

Sincerely,

Qwest