Metro Private Line Optical Wave

Service Level Agreement

 

I.          Scope

 

A.         General.

 

             This Metro Private Line Optical Wave Service Level Agreement (“SLA”) applies to Company’s Metro Private Line (“MPL”) Optical Wave Service on an end-to-end circuit basis, except where otherwise noted. Customer may receive credits if Company does not meet the "Service Availability" or “Mean Time to Repair (“MTTR”)” standards as set forth below. This SLA is only available for customers who pay Verizon Business MPL Optical Wave Service charges and who maintain MPL Optical Wave Service for the applicable minimum term commitment in the Customer’s master agreement.

 

This SLA applies to the following MPL Optical Wave Service: 1 Gbps, 2 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, 4 Gbps, 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps, and 100 Gbps, each with a dedicated handoff protocol delivered as a “Protected” signal which will mean that the circuit is provided with a working path and a protected backup path or “Unprotected” signal which will mean a single transmission path.  This SLA does not apply to any MPL Optical Wave Services made available on an individual case basis.

           

This SLA applies only to “Network Outages”, which means an unscheduled period in which there is a total interruption of the ability to exchange data between Customer end points (“End-to-End Circuit”) using MPL Optical Wave Service and such interruption renders the service unusable for 60 or more seconds within a 15-minute period, as measured by Verizon.  Slow MPL Optical Wave Service or other MPL Optical Wave Service degradation is not considered a Network Outage. Customer must open a Trouble Ticket in order to qualify for any credits available for any Network Outage

 

Except as set forth in this SLA, Company makes no claims regarding the availability or performance of MPL Optical Wave Service.

 

B.         Access Required.

This SLA applies to the End-to-End Circuit, which is measured from Customer’s primary premises demarcation point to one or more of Customer’s secondary premises demarcation point(s).  The demarcation point is the point at which the service provider’s facilities interconnect with Customer’s premises.  The End-to-End Circuit does not include Customer’s equipment (“CPE”), any third party equipment other than equipment furnished by Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) as part of their access services, any Customer application on a covered circuit, or in-house wiring.

 

Metro Private Line type 1 and Type 4a  are only permitted in this SLA as follows:

 

Type 1 circuits are those for which the circuit is furnished wholly via Verizon Business Company facilities. Type 1 circuits consist of two types of signal based upon customer choice: Protected or Unprotected.

 

Type 4a access service is provided when the connections at each end of a circuit are at locations formally provided via MCI Legacy Company facilities and are furnished via MCI Legacy Company Facilities or Verizon Telecom Company or Verizon Telecom Company-affiliate facilities, and the circuit itself is furnished partially or in total by MCI Legacy Company facilities or Verizon Telecom Company or Verizon Telecom Company-affiliate facilities.  Type 4a circuits consist of two types of signal configurations based upon customer choice: Protected or Unprotected.

 

Metro Private Line Optical Wave Dedicated Base System and Appearances offered as a standard service are included in this SLA.  Credit will be given to the Dedicated Base System only when the entire system does not meet the service level standards outlined in this SLA. Outages of individual end-to-end appearances, including SONET Subtend appearances, as outlined below. 

 

 

 

II.          MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standards

 

A.         MPL Optical Wave Service Availability

 

1.        MPL Optical Wave Service Availability Standard.   The MPL Optical Wave Service Availability Standard applies only to Network Outages.  MPL Optical Wave Service is not considered unavailable until at least 60 seconds of unavailability have elapsed during any 15 minute interval.

           

 

2.         Calculation:  To calculate the percentage of MPL Optical Wave Service Availability, add the total number of minutes that Customer’s circuit was available to Customer to exchange data via the End-to-End Circuit during a billing period (i.e., not subject to a Network Outage), plus any minutes during which the circuit was not available to exchange data between Customer end points, due to events described in Section V, Exclusions. Divide the sum by the total number of minutes in the billing month. Multiply the quotient by 99.99 for protected and 99.5 for unprotected.

 

                           The total number of minutes in a billing month is as follows:

 

 

B.         Mean Time to Repair (“MTTR”) 

 

1.          MTTR Standard.  The MTTR Standard applies only to Network Outages. 

 

 

Calculation:  MTTR is the average time to repair all Network Outages for a particular End-to-End Circuit that Customer has reported as described below over a calendar month period. The time to repair a circuit starts when a Trouble Ticket is opened by Company for a Network Outage and concludes with restoration of the End-to-End Circuit—i.e., the time that the Network Outage condition no longer exists. The duration of each Network Outage for a particular End-to-End Circuit is totaled at the end of each billing month and divided by the corresponding number of Network Outage Trouble Tickets for that particular End-to-End Circuit.

 

 

III.         MPL Optical Wave Service Level Objectives.

 

Verizon provides a MPL Optical Wave Service network Latency target objective of 10 milliseconds per 1,000 route mile and a MPL Optical Wave Service installation target objective of 2 – 4 months. Any construction needed anywhere in the process, either on-net or off-net, could result in additional MPL Optical Wave Service installation intervals of 120 business days.

 

 

 

IV.       Qualification Process.

 

A.         General.   Customer is eligible to receive credits if Company does not meet the MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standards set forth above. To qualify for such credits, Customer must comply with the procedures set forth in this section. Credits are based on a stated percentage of the monthly recurring charge (“MRC”) for the MPL Optical Wave Service component in Customer’s Agreement for which the MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard has not been met. Subject to the limitations set forth in section V. A. below, the maximum credit available to Customer under any combination of the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability and the Mean Time to Repair within a single calendar month is 100 percent of the MRC for that MPL Optical Wave Service component for the month during which the MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard was not met. Company data and calculations will be used to determine if an MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard has not been met and a credit is due.  In addition, Company will not issue credits pursuant to the MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard for more than 6 months in any 12 month period. Company will issue a credit due, net of discounts and taxes, within 90 days of its determination that a MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard was not met. 

 

B.         MPL Optical Wave Service Availability and MTTR Credit Process.

 

            Customer must perform the following to become eligible or qualify for credit under either the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability standard or the MTTR standard:  

            

1          Open a Trouble Ticket within four hours of first learning of a Network Outage by using one of the following available methods:

 

§  Using the Customer Center portal on the Verizon Business website, or

§  Calling the Customer MPL Optical Wave Service toll free number located on Customer’s invoice, or

 

A trouble ticket is required to be opened within four hours of first learning of a Network Outage; and

 

2          Submit in writing the following information no later than thirty (30) days from the end of the calendar month in which the MPL Optical Wave Service was restored:

§  All applicable Trouble Ticket numbers associated with each    circuit experiencing Network Outages;

§  The date and time the Trouble Ticket(s) were opened; and

§  The circuit ID number for each circuit that experienced the Network Outage. 

 

Failure to comply with each of the preceding requirements may result in Company denying Customer’s request for credit under either the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability or MTTR Standard.

 

A Trouble Ticket is a Company document used to record network MPL Optical Wave Service issues. Trouble Tickets are time stamped when opened and closed.  The time stamps are used to calculate whether (i) the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability and MTTR Standards under this SLA have been met, (ii) the issue reported is considered a Network Outage claim; and (iii) the issue isn’t excluded by the terms of Section VI below.

 

 

V.        Credits

 

A.                 MPL Optical Wave Service Availability and MTTR. 

 

During any monthly billing period in which the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability standard or MTTR standard for a specific Customer End-to End Circuit has not been met, and provided the conditions set forth in this SLA have been met, Customer is eligible to receive a credit applied against the MPL Optical Wave Service MRC for that End-to-End Circuit, as follows:

 

1.         For a failure to meet the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability or MTTR standard for one month, Company will provide, as applicable, a MPL Optical Wave Service Availability credit equal to 25 percent of the MRC for that circuit, after application of all discounts.  

 

2.         For a failure to meet the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability or MTTR standard for the same End-to-End circuit for two consecutive months, Company will provide, as applicable, a MPL Optical Wave Service Availability credit equal to 50 percent of the MRC for that End-to-End Circuit, after application of all discounts, for the second month.

 

3.         For a failure  to meet the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability or MTTR standard for the same End-to-End circuit for three consecutive months, either: (1) Company will provide a credit equal to 100 percent of the MRC for that End-to-End Circuit, after application of all discounts, for the third month and for each consecutive month thereafter that Customer remains subscribed to the End-to-End Circuit and Company fails to satisfy the MPL Optical Wave Service Availability or MTTR standard; or (2) Customer may terminate MPL Optical Wave Service for that End-to-End Circuit without incurring termination liability, except for charges incurred prior to MPL Optical Wave Service termination, if Customer notifies Company in writing of its intent to terminate the End-to-End Circuit no later than 30 days after the conclusion of the third month or any consecutive month in which the same MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard is not met for that End-to-End Circuit.  After a failure of three consecutive months or more, Company, upon written notice to Customer, may terminate its performance obligations under this SLA.

 

4.         If the Network Outage carries over from one month to the next, the Network Outage is deemed to have occurred in the month in which MPL Optical Wave Service was restored.

 

5.          In addition, Company will not issue credits pursuant to this SLA for more than a total of six months in any 12-month period.

 

 

VI.         Exclusions

           

In addition to any exclusions specified above, MPL Optical Wave Service Level Standard calculations will not count as unavailable or repair time any time that results from any one or more of the following:

 

A.         MPL Optical Wave Services that have been installed for less than one full calendar month;

 

B.         Any act or omission on the part of Customer, its contractors, vendors, agents or any other entity over which Customer exercises control or has the right to exercise control, other than acts or omissions of Company or Company approved 3rd party network or maintenance providers, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

Delays of any kind attributable to Customer; Incorrect or incomplete information provided by Customer;

 

CPE;

 

Periods during which Company or the Company-approved maintenance provider is denied access to the CPE or network components at the Customer location when such access is required;

 

Customers failure or refusal to release the End-to-End Circuit for testing;

 

Customer’s unavailability when needed to close a Trouble Ticket;

 

The manner in which Customer has used the End-to-End Circuit, including, but not limited to router configuration, power availability and environmental conditions prevailing at Customer’s location;

 

Any third party equipment other than equipment furnished by LECs as part of the access MPL Optical Wave Services provisioned by Company via LEC facilities.

 

C.         Interruptions not reported by Customer, or for which no Trouble Ticket was opened, if required under Section III above;

D.         Proper electrical power is not available;

E.         A Force Majeure Event;

F.         Scheduled maintenance by Customer or entities under Customer’s direction or control;

G.         Scheduled or emergency maintenance by Company; 

H.         Customer’s use of the MPL Optical Wave Service in an unauthorized or unlawful    manner;

I.          Network degradation, such as slow data transmission;

J.         MPL Optical Wave Service outages attributable to installation of a new circuit;

K.         Delays resulting from order suspension due to credit issues involving Customer.