Telecommunications Information Notice 17-03 Changes to Consolidated Network Access Line of Service

​​July 12, 2017

This information notice is to alert agencies of changes to the Consolidated Network Access Line of Service provided by the Office of Technology Services/Network Services (formerly Office of Telecommunications Management). CNA service provides customers the ability to connect to the OTS/NS network for data transport via three options:

1. Agencies “co-located” or locally housed with OTS/NS points of presence (POP) connecting via Ethernet over in-building or campus wiring. This Direct Access via Ethernet option will now be billed at a flat rate of $350/month. (Previous rates were $350 or $700 depending on connection size.)
2. Agency offices remote to OTS/NS POP sites connecting via carrier provided T1 circuits that terminate in a DS3 at the OTS/NS POP. This Direct Access via T1 option will now be billed at a rate of $110/month per T1. (Previous rate was $130.)
3. Agencies remote to OTS/NS POP connecting via carrier/service-provider Ethernet circuits. These may be point-to-point or more often point-to-multipoint connections. Typically this service involves a circuit from each agency site to the service-provider cloud (tails) and also a circuit from the OTS/NS POP to the service-provider cloud (host). The service provider creates the connectivity between the sites via its internal mapping process. Historically agencies have paid for both portions of the circuit necessary to establish service to the OTS/NS POP as well as a CNA fee for connecting to the OTS/NS backbone ($350 or $700 depending on size). This option will be changing as described below for consolidated IT customers only.

In the new model for Option 3, OTS will establish “Shared Ethernet Host” physical circuits from each applicable service provider to the OTS/NS points of presence. These circuits shall be shared by consolidated IT customers for accessing the OTS/NS network. The service provider internal mapping process shall be used to interconnect remote offices (tails) to the OTS/NS “Shared Host”. This eliminates the need for individual customer-provided Ethernet host circuits into OTS/NS points of presence.

Agencies will continue to pay for tail circuits to each remote office but will no longer be billed the carrier fees for the connection into the OTS/NS POP. Instead they will be charged for CNA Ethernet Access at various rates according to the bandwidth subscription they choose on each “Shared Host” circuit:

• ETHERNET ACCESS 5 MBPS ​$350
• ETHERNET ACCESS 10 MBPS $500
• ETHERNET ACCESS 20 MBPS $600
• ETHERNET ACCESS 50 MBPS $700
• ETHERNET ACCESS 100 MBPS $800
• ETHERNET ACCESS 150 MBPS $900
• ETHERNET ACCESS 250 MBPS $1,000
• ETHERNET ACCESS 500 MBPS $1,100
• ETHERNET ACCESS 1000 MBPS $1,200

No billing changes will be made for tail circuits nor host circuits that terminate at agency POP sites.

Moving to the new model will require changes to agencies’ existing network connections and may involve service order processing. In order to make the new rates effective immediately, however, the vendor costs for existing agency-specific circuits terminating in OTS/NS POPs will no longer be billed to each customer. Those charges will be absorbed by OTS/NS and customers will be charged new CNA rates according to current circuit sizes beginning with the June 2017 bill.

Customers for whom OTS does not provide consolidated IT services will maintain their own Ethernet circuits into OTS/NS POPs and will continue to be billed separately for those circuits. The CNA rate for these customers will change to a flat fee of $350, designated as “Direct Access via Ethernet”.

These changes are reflected in the Catalog of Services.

Questions about this information notice should be directed to OTS Network Services Deputy Director Catherine Shain by email.