Focus Group 2 Network Reliability

1. Focus Group 2Network Reliability PJ Aduskevicz, AT&T Ross Callon, Juniper Wayne Hall, Comcast

2. PJ Aduskevicz, AT&T Jeff Barrows, Firefly Networks Ron Bath, VoiceStream Dan Benyon, Cisco Ken Biholar, Alcatel USA Ken Buckley, Federal Reserve Board Jane Builder, VoiceStream Rex Bullinger, NCTA Ross Callon, Juniper Rick Canaday, AT&T Kevin Cavanagh, AT&T Wireless William Check, NCTA Wayne Chiles, Verizon Joe Craig, Qwest Victor Devito, AT&T Bernie Farrell, NCS David Fears, Cox Communications Perry Fergus, Booz Allen & Hamilton Lee Fitzsimmons, Nextel Ron Garrett, Tekelec Brian Goemmer, Western Wireless Jeff Goldthorp, FCC Chris Gunner, Avici Systems Ed Hall, ATIS Thomas Hall, MFN Wayne Hall, Comcast Rick Harrison, Telcordia Paul Hart, SBC Jake Hartinger, Cisco John Healy, FCC Dean Henderson, Nortel Networks Bob Holley, Cisco Bruce Johnson, Verisign Lynn Johnson, Boeing Rick Kemper, CTIA Jay Kitchen, PCIA Bill Klein, ATIS Bernie Ku, WorldCom Jim Lankford, SBC Bill LaPerch, MFN Focus Group Membership

3. Greg Larson, Exodus/CWUSA Mike Lecocke, SBC Chris Liljenstolpe, CW Virgil Long, Tekelec Chris MacFarland, Allegiance Spilios Makris, Telcordia Joseph Maloney, Hughes Archie McCain, BellSouth Mike Meyers, Microsoft Corp. Art Menko, BPI Telcodata Brian Micene, AT&T Wireless Denny Miller, Nortel Kent Nilsson, FCC Eamon O’Leary, AT&T Wireless Gary Pellegrino, CommFlow Resources Bonnie Petti, Verizon Wireless Sam Phillips, BITS Tom Purcell, Nextel Karl Rauscher, Lucent Arthur Reilly, Cisco Systems Ira Richer, The Telesis Group Gary Roboff, BITS Jim Runyon, Lucent Sonia Sakovich, Sprint Harold Salters, Voicestream Dan Schutzer, BITS Andy Scott, NCTA Pete Shelus, Telcordia Technologies Ken Silva, Verisign Don Smith, NCS Ron Stear, C&W Sandy Stephens, Focal Jeff Swinton, Conexion Corp. Whitey Thayer, FCC John Todd, NCS Rachel Torrence, Qwest Robert Vogel, PanAmSat Corp. Scott Wallhermfechtel, Metromedia Doug Williams, Comcast Cable Heather Wyson, BITS Focus Group Membership

4. Focus Group Mission Statement • Define reliability measurements (units) for commercial communications networks (i.e., wireline and wireless transport networks, including satellite and cable) and for the Internet by March 22, 2003. • Define reasonable, measurable customer-affecting outage reporting thresholds for commercial communications networks (i.e., wireline and wireless transport networks, including satellite and cable) and for the Internet by March 22, 2003. • Conduct voluntary outage reporting trial, collect data, analyze results, and report on the validity, usefulness, and timeliness of the process and information obtained, and make recommendations for improvement. • Based on trial results (including information on services affected by an outage), evaluate and report on the reliability of public communications network services in the United States. • Should the Commission initiate an inquiry or rulemaking with respect to any of the above-mentioned issues, the Focus Group will provide input to the NRIC, which may make formal recommendations as a part of such proceeding(s). • Evaluate, and report on, the reliability of public telecommunications network services in the United States.

5. Focus Group Status • Initial work on measurements and thresholds in technology specific teams • Voluntary Outage Reporting Trial process and data criteria to be based on previous work of NRIC V (modifications/adaptations are being identified) • Expected levels and conditions of participation in the Voluntary Outage Reporting Trial are being assessed

6. Measurements and Thresholds Teams

7. NRIC V Process

8. NRIC V Data Criteria

9. Reliability Reporting – NRSC Reports The Network Reliability Steering Committee (NRSC) was established under the auspices of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) to monitor network reliability utilizing major outage reports filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) pursuant to Part 63.100 of the FCC Rules. The NRSC’s mission is to analyze network outage data reported by companies, to identify trends, make recommendations aimed at improving network reliability, and make the results publicly available, and where applicable refer matters to other industry fora for further action.

10. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual ReportAnnual Control Chart for Outage Frequency

11. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual ReportAnnual Aggregated Outage Index Control Chart

12. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual ReportNumber Of Outages By Failure Category

13. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual ReportAnnual Frequency Control Chart for Procedural Error Outages

14. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual ReportAnnual Aggregated Outage Index Control Chart for Procedural Error Outages

15. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual Report For outages reported in 2001: • Local Switch outages had their lowest annual frequency and aggregated outage index to date. • The annual aggregated outage index of Procedural Errors was the highest to date. • The number of outages was lower than in any year to date. Nonetheless, the aggregated outage reached its second highest value to date. • The average outage index per outage was the highest to date.

16. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2001 Annual Report Significant trends noted over the course of the nine-year data history include: • Local switch outage annual frequency and aggregated outage index are decreasing at the rate of 6% and 13% per year respectively. • Central Office (CO) Power outage frequency is increasing at a rate of 12% per year. • The frequency of Facility outages has decreased in the last two years, and the Facility aggregated outage index is decreasing at a rate of 6% per year. • The frequency of outages with a Procedural Error as a root cause is increasing at a rate of 6% per year. • The frequency of Common Channel Signaling (CCS) outages has increased in the last two years.

17. NRSC Timing Outages Task GroupImpact of Timing Outages 9.4% of all Outages were from Timing Outages 33% of all CCS7 Outages were Timing Outages

18. NRSC Timing Outages Task GroupThree New Best Practices • Network Operators and Service Providers should insure that engineering, design, and installation processes address how new network elements are integrated into the office synchronization plan. • Network Operators and Service Providers should develop management and records keeping tools that accurately track the diversity of internal wiring for office synchronization, including timing leads and power. • Network Operators and Service Providers should conduct periodic verification of the office synchronization plan and the diversity of timing links, power feeds and alarms.

19. NRSC Timing Outages Task GroupOffice Inspections and New Procedures • Upgrade all BITS clocks to models capable of full A/B Power redundancy • Verify that BITS is on fully protected power (UPS) with generator, and fed separately (A/B) • If D4 channel banks are used for transporting common channel signaling, there are special timing considerations: • Redundant SS7 links should be timed from redundant timing sources (e.g., from different BITS timing output cards). • Typically, all D4 Shelves (e.g., six) can be ‘daisy chained’ with same BITS clock lead. As such, the redundant SS7 Links should terminate on Bays or Shelves with different timing sources • Periodic tests for BITS switchover should be executed where applicable • Power (A/B) • Input (redundant Clock cards) • Output (redundant Timing Output cards) • Alarms (e.g., power, input, output, fuse) • A one-time physical audit of timing redundancy, with special attention to SS7 link diversity should be conducted • Any outages, which are determined to have the BITS clock as a contributing cause; whether supplier/service provider/other attributable, should be shared with the BITS clock supplier to assist that supplier in improving the quality of their product

20. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2Q02 ReportFCC Reportable Service Outages(by number of events)

21. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2Q02 ReportFCC Reportable Service Outages(by outage index)

22. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2Q02 ReportIncidents by Failure Category(Common Channel Signaling)

23. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2Q02 ReportIncidents by Failure Category(CO Power)

24. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2Q02 ReportProcedural Error Attributed Outages(by number of events)

25. Reliability Reporting – NRSC 2Q02 Report Based upon analysis of all outages reported from 1Q93 through 2Q02, the NRSC notes that: • There is an increasing trend in the number of CO Power and CCS outages. • There is an increasing trend in the frequency and aggregated outage index of Procedural Errors as the root cause of outages. • There is a decreasing trend in the number of Local Switch outages.

26. Reliability Reporting – NRSC Reports The NRSC urges all service providers and equipment vendors to review all best practices for application in their operations. These Best Practices may be found at: http://www.nric.org/