Introduction #
Sometimes when ordering a Gamma Ethernet product there can be delays, however there are occasions where this can be avoided and in order to do so, we will need the help of you and your customer. When ordering EAD (Ethernet Access Direct) we like to break down the process down into four main areas of consideration, these areas are:
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- Ordering and Validation
- Planning Phase
- Delivery Stage (physical works)
- Fit and Test
The most critical part here is that all parties work in unison to deliver a circuit as there can be multiple parties involved in the delivery and through each stage clear and concise communication is key. This document has been created to go through each area/phase and guide you on the actions you can take (or information you can provide to us) in order to minimise the risk of any delays.
This is the key area for you and your customer and is where we need to gather and provide as much information as possible to avoid delays during the delivery of the circuit. Before you come to place an order with Gamma we need you as our partners to speak to the end user and/or landlord and gather the following information:
- Is the building listed?
- Was the building built before 2000? If so the landlord has to have an asbestos register present at the point of survey, if this is not present our suppliers will not progress the order.
- Will Wayleave be required?
- Does the end user and/or landlord require SSRAMs?
- Is the site ready for works to take place?
- Are there any health and safety risks onsite?
- Do you have an accurate demarcation point for the circuit install?
- Are the Reseller contact details accurate and up to date?
- Are the onsite contact details accurate and up to date?
Inaccurate or details or a lack of information on the above points could lead to delays on the order for you and your customer.
It should be noted that the onsite contact details are key on all Ethernet orders as this individual will be responsible for:
- Granting access to supplier engineers and surveyors.
- Understanding the works that are to be undertaken.
- Understanding the service they have requested and where the demarcation of the circuit is.
- Making decisions about what engineers can and cannot do onsite.
- Knowing who to contact should issues arise.
Planning Phase
- The planning phase is broken down into 2 main sections, these sections are:
- Site Survey – SSRAMS and Wayleave
- Survey Results and Excess Construction Charges (ECC)
- This phase plays a big part in the delivery process in determining whether we have an understanding of all the essential requirements for a circuit installation to take place.
Site Survey #
- On the day of a site survey the attending surveyor will get in touch with the onsite contact to confirm access is available. The Surveyor attending will provide the onsite contact a copy of a Generic Risk and Method Statement (also known as Generic RAMS) – which is also available here. This is the Risk and Method Statement that the attending surveyor will work to whilst onsite. Before the surveyor enters the site they will ask to see a copy of the asbestos register for the site if it was built pre 2000. The Surveyor will enter the site and review the property and the demarcation point you have stipulated on the order. They will then estimate the works required onsite to bring a dedicated Ethernet service from the supplier node outside of your property to the demarcation point you have stipulated on the order.
- If your customer cannot grant access to the attending surveyor or they cannot produce an asbestos register (where required) this will delay the order and you will be charged for an aborted visit.
SSRAMS #
After the initial survey conducted by our suppliers your customer (or their landlord) may wish to have a Site Specific Risk and Assessment Method Statement drawn up for the Ethernet circuit installation. This is a pack which will define exactly how a circuit will be installed through the building to the demarcation provided on the order, what works will be carried out and what risks are present onsite. This will delay the order as our suppliers will need to send an additional surveyor who is skilled in producing SSRAMS documentation (which are generally in short supply), alternatively if enough detail was provided by the original surveyor they can convert the existing survey details in to an SSRAMS pack for your customer.
If your customer requires SSRAMS it should be noted that this is a chargeable service and you will need to accept the TRCs (Time related Charges) associated to the SSRAMS appointment and drawing up of the document, the SSRAMS appointment will not be given until these costs are accepted which will delay the order. Your customer should also be aware that they will need to grant access to a subsequent surveyor on the appointment date and once the SSRAMS pack is provided your customer will need to let you know if they accept the SSRAMS or reject them, if accepted the order will progress if rejected we need a clear understanding of why to understand whether our suppliers will be able to redraw the SSRAMS documentation or whether the order will need to be cancelled.
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Wayleave #
Wayleave is a legal agreement between your customer (or their landlord) and the supplier around the delivery of the Ethernet circuit to the demarcation provided on the order, the associated works to be carried out onsite and liability should any issue or incident arise. There are two types of Wayleave, which could affect the timescales around your service being delivered; they are referred to as first party and third party Wayleave. First party Wayleave will occur when permission is needed from your customer or their landlord in order to complete the work required to provide your service. Third party Wayleave is where permission needs to granted by another party for you to use a certain network.
Depending on where you would like your Ethernet service to terminate, it may be necessary to make some changes to your site, for example; Dig onsite, drill through walls or pass through the premises of another company (if you are located in a multi-occupancy building).
In order to resolve a Wayleave request as quickly and efficiently as possible, we would recommend you take the following action:
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- First Party Wayleave: You should engage your landlord as early as possible in the process (even prior to order placement) In order to reduce delays; we would also recommend that if your customer has a tenancy agreement that you review this as it may actually negate the need for first party Wayleave.
- Third Party Wayleave: The planner will always try to avoid this however, you may be asked to consider alternate routing into your building. If this happens, be patient as agreements can be protracted however it wouldn’t do any harm to have a backup route into your building planned.
- If a Wayleave request is denied, our supplier’s planners will consider all possible alternative routing options into your site. However if all alternative options have been exhausted and our suppliers have the legal right to do so then a compulsory Wayleave may be granted. ??
Excess Construction Charges (ECC) & Site Survey Results #
ECCs are Excess Construction Charges and are the charges associated with delivering an Ethernet circuit from our suppliers existing infrastructure to your customer’s demarcation point. Our suppliers do have a threshold allowance to encourage new business and the growth of their network, where the supplier is BTWholesale TalkTalk or Gamma the underlying provider is Openreach who have an ECC threshold of £2800 this means anything under this amount will not be chargeable to you or your customer, for Virgin this is £3100.
ECC amounts are determined by the level of works required to extend our suppliers network to your demarcation and this is broken down in detail in survey results, survey results and the indicative category provided (please see XXXX for further explanation of Ethernet categories) serve as a good measure of how long a service will take to deliver. If there are ECCs this could be down to:
- Internal Cabling (the cabling required onsite).
- Physical works required onsite to deliver the circuit (digging, drilling holes, scaffolding etc)
- Ducting and Tubing (the physical pipes that Ethernet cabling will go down, this could be internal to the site and/or external).
- External cabling (this could be standard or spine cabling – create hyperlink for spine cabling).
- Additional Physical Infrastructure (Joint or Node boxes – create hyperlink for joint and node boxes).
Following the provision of ECCs your customer will be able to cancel the order if there are ECCs payable by you and your customer FOC (Free of Charge) for a period of 10 working days after being given the ECC costs. If the costs are under the thresholds then if your customer decides to cancel the order this will be chargeable and cancellation costs will be provided by your dedicated Ethernet coordinator.
The quicker your customer makes a decision about ECCs (should any be applicable) the quicker the order can progress to the delivery stage.
Delivery Stage (Physical Works)
During the delivery stage our suppliers will align resource for all associated tasks (both external and internal) and conduct these to be able to proceed to the final stage of fit and test. This can involve complex planning and works which can delay the delivery of your circuit, it should be noted that some tasks will be dependent on the agreement of you and your customer and potential delays can be avoided by quick responses.
PTW (Permission to Work) #
PTWs could be submitted by our suppliers to the onsite contact to agree to works due to take place onsite. This will be a document outlining what works are going to take place and when and this will generally be for more complex works which require abseiling teams, scaffolding, mole plough (see link) etc. Before our suppliers will start these works your customer and/or their landlord will need to agree to the PTW and this will need to be provided back to our suppliers.
- We can minimise potential delays by agreeing to and providing our suppliers the associated documentation as quickly as possible.
PTD (Permission to Dig) #
PTDs could be submitted by our suppliers to the onsite contact to agree to digging due to take place onsite. This will be a document outlining what digging works are going to take place and when and this will generally be for more complex works which require significant excavations onsite. Before our suppliers will start these works your customer and/or their landlord will need to agree to the PTD and this will need to be provided back to our suppliers.
- We can minimise potential delays by agreeing to and providing our suppliers the associated documentation as quickly as possible.
Fit and Test
During the final stage of the physical works you will have a fit and test appointment this will be to do final physical works and installation of the supplier NTE/NTU (Network Transmission Equipment/Network Transmission Unit) onsite. The onsite contact should be present during this visit and ensure they are happy with the installation work and that the circuit is being delivered to the required demarcation point. If the onsite contact is not available and access is not granted this will delay the order and result in abortive visit charges for you and your customer. Additionally if your customer is not present whilst the works are being carried out this could result in a subsequent visit being required if your customer is not satisfied with the works
Delays outside the reasonable control of Gamma and you or your customers #
- During the delivery of an Ethernet Circuit there are certain delays that are outside of our reasonable control and even the control of our suppliers however we do attempt to negate the impact of these delays where possible to you and your customer. These delays can be in relation but are not exclusive to:
- Traffic Management
- MBORC
- Additional Permits
- Blockages and A55s
- Third party agreements
Traffic Management Requests #
If any work needs to be carried out on a public highway, our suppliers will need to gain legal permission from the local council or highway authority before any work can commence. Depending on the council they are dealing with, there can be different timescales.
Some councils will accept requests from our suppliers which means our suppliers can tell them when they would like to carry out the work, these notices will give the council 7, 14, 28 or 90 days’ notice, these notice periods are subject to quite a few variables, the road type and closure play a part in this as well as the type of work which is required, for example if any duct work is required then a longer notice period will be needed as opposed to cabling work.
Other councils may require permits; this means that our suppliers will have to request access, once they have done this, BT will have to wait for the council to respond with a cost but also with permission for the work to be carried out (This will not impact on ECCs).
Whilst Gamma will be able to provide you with the latest update on your order, we do ask that you remain patient as these agreements can take time to arrange and the work being completed can also take some time.
MBORC (Matters Beyond our Reasonable Control) #
Sometimes there will be incidences or issues which are outside of any party involved in delivering the Ethernet Circuits control such as terrorist incidences, flooding onsite or to our suppliers network or weather conditions which make carrying out works a health and safety risk. We would ask that if MBORC is applied during the delivery of your circuit that you be patient and work with us to proceed as early as possible.
Additional Permits #
Additional permits may be required with 3rd parties such as Network Rail, electricity suppliers, airports etc for the delivery of your Ethernet Circuit to occur. The granting of these permits are managed between our suppliers and these third parties and are beyond the control of Gamma. Gamma will provide as much information as possible if additional permits are required but we ask that you be patient during this process.
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Blockages and A55s #
During the delivery of an Ethernet Circuit sometimes our suppliers can encounter blockages in their ducting. It is the responsibility of our suppliers to maintain the integrity of their network infrastructure and sometimes significant excavation works or de-silting can be required to clear these blockages. Depending on the complexity an A55 may need to be drawn up which will detail out where the blockages are and what works are required to clear this, dependent on the works with could require traffic management, third party permissions/wayleaves, or additional permits.
Third Party Agreements #
Where works need to be carried out on a third party’s land or with their permission due to it being in the vicinity of their infrastructure our suppliers will request permission to perform these works with the third party. This may be in the form of a permit, a third party PTD or PTW or a Wayleave agreement. If should be notes that our suppliers will negotiate these agreements directly with the third party and we cannot influence or speed up this process, we will provide as much information as possible if these agreements are required and ask that you be patient during this process.
Data Centre Sites
If you want to terminate your Ethernet service at a data centre, there are a few more considerations that you will need to take into account. Here are some hints and tips on what you should consider to help avoid any delays:
Termination Point #
- Termination point – needs to be checked. E.G. Is the circuit terminating in a Meet Me Room (MMR).
- You should order an internal cable from port to the customer equipment location directly from the data centre.
- When you place the order with Gamma you will need to provide us with specific port information, this will include; floor location, room, suite, rack location, shelf location and port number.
- Distance limitations – from the MMR for example to the end customer termination point. This may affect the circuit bearer you require e.g. 100Mb bearer allows up to 100M route distance, 1Gb bearer allows up to 220M route distance.
Access Requirements #
- Is an access code required for the engineer to gain entry to the site and/or customer rack?
- If the data centre is owned by a third party, you will need to check with them that you do not need any notice before arriving on site and/or if the supplier engineer needs to be supervised when they visit. Additionally you will need to consider what information the data centre requires to grant access to the attending engineer e.g. name, number, registration number etc.
- Does the engineer require any specific skills to complete the job? E.G. Confined space trained.
- If a separate copper line is needed to monitor the health of your service, our supplier will need additional access to your data centre.
- Our supplier may also need access to other rooms within the data centre to complete all parts of the circuit delivery on the day their engineer visits. Having an increased awareness of this will only help towards completing the order.
Power Requirements #
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- Is AC/DC power required? 240 volts AC (Alternating Current) is the standard UK power supply and 3x 240V AC plug sockets will be required to power the NTE and CPE. 48 volts DC (Direct Current) is often an option given at most data centre racks to reduce power consumption and improve efficiency. Please check with your customer which type of power presentation they require.
