Day 3 Session 3

Interconnection Services:
Fixed Core and Mobile
Networks

Eric Tyson

Agenda
What are the types of interconnection services
offered?
Conveyance Services
Link Services
Value Added Services
NGN Services

How are these services described?

Service schedules
Terms and Conditions

Conveyance Services
Relating to carriage of calls through an
interconnected network for:
Call Termination
Call Origination
Call Transit call is destined for a third network

Charges are based on the volume (per minute)

usage of network elements

Call Termination

Originating
Network

POI

Terminating
Network

MSC

MSC

POI

Trunk Exchange

POI

Trunk Exchange

Telephone

Distant end hand over for calls to fixed networks

Telephone

Call Termination Services

POI

POI

Double Tandem

Single
Tandem
POI

Terminating
Operator

Local

Call Termination Services

Local, Single Tandem & Double Tandem services
depend on number of switches used to terminate
the call
Double Tandem may be de-averaged further by
distance
Mobile networks have no distinction one
average termination rate
Originating operator collects revenue from the
customer and pays the terminating operator their
termination charge

Call Origination

Originating
Network

POI

Terminating
Network

Call Origination Services

POI

POI

Double Tandem

Single
Tandem
POI

Originating
Operator

Local

Call Origination for Accessing Services

Used for
Access to Carrier Selection and Carrier Preselection services
Access to Number Translation Services (freephone, shared
cost, shared revenue) hosted on other networks

Charge for Call Origination may include charges for

Access to Emergency Services/Operator Services

Charges for Access to Number Translation Services

can be complex depending on the tariff regime
Access to some services on the networks of other
operators may not be available or available at a
higher charge
Depends on interconnection agreement

Carrier Selection and Preselection

POI
Originating
(Incumbent)
Network

POI

Carrier
(Pre)
Selection
Network

Customer has
line provided
by incumbent

Carrier Selection
customer dials
prefix or has
preselected Carrier
Network

Call may terminate on Selected

Network, a 3rd party network, or back
on incumbents network

Access to Number Translation Services

Originating
Network

POI

Network
Hosting
Service

Service
Provide
r
e.g.
0800 Freephone
0845 Local Rate

e.g. Bank

Charge Flows for Call Origination

For Carrier (Pre) Selection
Selected carrier bills customer for call and pays call
origination charge to Originating operator

For Number Translation Services

For Freephone, calling party is not charged revenue
collected from party providing the service and call
origination fee paid to originating operator by host
For shared cost calling party pays some revenue, party
providing the service pays some, hosting operator pays
call origination fee
For shared revenue revenue received from calling party,
call origination fee paid to originating operator by host
host and service provider share remaining revenue

National Call Transit

Incumbent usually
Transit Network
Transit
Network
POI

POI

Originating
Network

Originating Network
has no direct POI with
Terminating Network

Terminating
Network

International Call Transit

Incumbent Usually
Transit Network
Transit
Network
POI

International
Link

Originating
Network

Originating Network
has no international link
with Terminating Network

International
Terminating
Network

Interconnection Link Services

Customer Sited Interconnection
In Span Interconnection
Charges may include (per 2Mbit/s or STM1 link)
One off Installation charges
Recurring rental charges
Per Km charges

Schedule will detail

Installation process and timescales
Responsibilities of each party

Rearrangement of links
Cancellation of links

Interconnect Extension Circuit (IEC)

Extension Link

POI

Interconnected
Switch

Remote Switch
same building or
different location

IEC used to increase number of POIs

without more network build

Leased Lines
Offered by the incumbent fixed operator for
Customer sited interconnection
Connection of other operator switches or equipment
Connection of customers to a POI

Standard lead times

Quality of service levels

Transmission Links
Offered by the incumbent fixed operator for
Creating links within the other operators network e.g.
between base stations and MSCs
Available at various data rates from 2Mbit/s upwards

Standard lead times

Quality of service levels may not be as high as for
interconnection links

Partial Private Circuit

Partial Private Circuit Configuration
Using Optic Fibre Link

High Capacity Optic Fibre

Interconnect
Link

END
USER

End User Tails

POI

Point of Interconnect
Incumbent Operator Mux

END
USER
END
USER

INCUMBENT
OPERATOR CORE
NETWORK

P
O
I

P
O
I

NEW OPERATOR
CORE NETWORK

NB. The PPC product is provided from the End User multiplexer to the Multiplexer in the POI in the New Operator site and
includes the End User tails, Core Network, Interconnect Link and all multiplexers.

Interconnection Administration
Covers cost of
Managing interconnection relationships
Interconnection planning

Service taken by all interconnecting operators

Can be included with conveyance service charges
as a per minute charge

Data Management Amendments

Opening of new number ranges to be recognised
for routing of calls
Rehoming of number ranges
Lead times for introducing new number ranges
need to be detailed
Joint service between interconnected operators

Ancillary Services
Access to Emergency Services
Can be a license requirement for operators
Interconnection to incumbent straightforward means
of access

Access to Operator Services and Directory

Enquiries
Expensive to set up in early days
But access to services adds value for customers
Incumbent provide services on operators behalf
Can be generic or branded (at an extra price)

NGN Services
What will the new services be?

Call Termination and Origination

Combined into one bidirectional service
Capacity based charges

Converged backhaul services to carry all types

of traffic
Converged access services to offer narrowband
(voice) and broadband

Virtual Interconnection Circuits (VIC)

Under incumbents NGN programmes, Local
Exchanges will close and calls will be physically
delivered to a Next Generation Switch (NGS).
VIC in the UK provide an operationally efficient alternative
to physical interconnects at Local Exchanges
Provides local call charges for a pre-specified number of
call minutes for traffic delivered at the trunk exchange
level
BT initial offering in response to roll out of NGN
May be replicated elsewhere

NGN Converged Conveyance (PSTN

Emulation)
New Voice Interconnect Product
Consists of
Interconnect Route (Media and Signalling SVLANs)
Multi Service Interconnect Link (MSIL) purchased
separately
Call Conveyance

Available at all network node sites

Commercial arrangements
Interim LE/ST/DT Blended ppm rate for each call type
(terminating, originating, NTS etc) based on traffic
analysis
Replacement according to industry agreement

Multi Service Interconnect Link (MSIL)

To connect Provider to BT network
1Gbit/s and 10Gbit/s MSILs available
Media Service Virtual Local Area Network (SVLAN)
10Mbit/s to 100Mbit/s capacity in 5Mbit/s increments
Bidirectional
Signalling SVLAN
1Mbit/s to 20Mbit/s in 1Mbit/s increments; 22-50Mbit/s
in 2Mbit/s increments
Handover Can be Customer Sited, In Span or In Building
Commercial Arrangements
Connection & Rental per SVLAN (according to
capacity)
Parties sharing use of MSIL, share the cost related to
bandwidth used by each

Mobile Interconnection Services

Voice Call Termination

just one service, no element differentiation

SMS Termination
MMS Termination
Interconnection Links
Collocation and Access to infrastructure
MVNO if choose to offer or mandated by regulator

MSC

MSC

POI

POI

Trunk Exchange

Trunk Exchange

Telephone

Telephone

Near end hand over for fixed to mobile

Sharing Mobile Infrastructure

Sharing mast space and equipment accommodation
is common practice in radio communications
Regulation mandating mobile operators to share
mast space is a common practice in many countries
Regulation is often used to limit the number of mast
sites, especially in designated areas such as historic
sites or countryside

MVNO arrangements (1)

A simple Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)
does not own spectrum or any network infrastructure
An MVNO buys traffic minutes from a Mobile Network
Operator (MNO) and resells them as branded services
to its own customers
Mobile infrastructure sharing can be achieved in a
variety of ways:
Planned site share and collocation through joint roll
out where two operators, each with their own spectrum,
agree to share site infrastructure when deploying new sites
Planned network sharing (but with separate spectrum)
where two operators agree to share active site
infrastructure (antennas/ base stations/ etc) when deploying
new sites

MVNO arrangements (2)

Planned network sharing (with shared spectrum)
where two operators agree to full network sharing
(including some parts of the Core, potentially)

An example of full mobile network sharing would be

the Everything Everywhere (EE) company created by
the recent merger of Orange Mobile and T-Mobile
networks in the UK
EE aims to provide a "single super-network" that give
better coverage to the 30 million customers served by
the combined networks
And the MVNO customers hosted on either party (e.g. Virgin)

Conclusion
Interconnected operators need a basic set of
services
Call termination
Interconnection links
Interconnection management

More sophisticated services, based on retail

services offered, can lead to a successful wholesale
business
Particularly for fixed networks with significant network
presence

Dont underestimate the need for robust processes

between interconnected operators