UFB Service Levels
Last week Ultra Fast Fibre, the UFB carrier for Hamilton, Tauranga and several other central North Island towns/cities, announced that they would be extending their Enterprise (6 Hour Restore) SLA service, which they released in May 2016, until Dec 2018.
This made me realise two things:
- We can’t take it for granted that the option to purchase an enhanced SLA for BS2 UFB services from UFF will remain past 2018.
- Given the SLAs around UFB services vary between carriers, it would be a good idea to clarify what is available within a post.
So here we go…
This isn’t a riveting topic, but it is important. Often clients are caught unaware when they are affected by a fibre cut or other fault and don’t realise that the default restoration target for their BS2 (the most common type of UFB service) falls far short of what they require. Even a comparatively short 6 hour wait for clients on BS3 services is longer than most businesses can handle.
The table below details the restoration targets for each type of SLA:
| UFB Service Level Type | Max downtime (Physical fibre) | Max downtime (Layer 2) | ONT Faults Included in Layer 2 Target? | Additional Charge? |
| Default – Chorus | ≤ 48 hours | N/A | No | No |
| Default – other providers | ≤ 24 hours | ≤ 12 hours | No | No |
| Enhanced SLA Level 1 | ≤ 24 hours | ≤ 12 hours | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced SLA Level 2 | ≤ 12 hours | ≤ 8 hours | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise SLA | ≤ 6 hours | ≤ 6 hours | Yes | Yes |
Some notes on the above table:
- Chorus, UFF and Northpower offer enhanced SLAs, Enable does not
- Restoration targets are not rebate backed
- An ONT is a termination device deployed by the relevant LFC with each new connection
- Enterprise SLA applies to Bitstream 3, 3a, 4 services by default, which is a key up sell point for all carriers
- Availability window is 7 days per week between 7am and 7pm
The enhanced SLA options from Chorus are twice the price of those offered by the other providers and are rarely selected as a result. Chorus instead pushes the critical response option, which is around $95 less than the same option via the other carriers.
2 hour Critical Response Option
Whether you have the default SLA, have paid more for an enhanced SLA on a BS2 service, or have an enterprise SLA on a BS3 or 4 service, if you have a fault and can’t wait for the restoration process to run its course, you can opt for a critical response call out.
| Carrier | Availability | Time to site visit | One-off charge |
| Chorus | 24/7 | ≤ 2 hours (nationwide) | $750 ex GST |
| UFF/Northpower | 24/7 | ≤ 2 hours (metro) | $845 ex GST |
- Fault resolution not guaranteed as a result of site visit
- The service level is met if a technician is onsite (at either an exchange, cabinet or customer site) within 2 hours
- The charges listed above include $50 ex GST in LW charges, which we use to cover the cost of escalation and dedicated support for the period that the selected option is in play
Given much of this detail is not regulated, it is subject to change at the whim of the carriers.
Brendan Ritchie
