FROM ISOCNZ

CREATED FROM INDUSTRY QUESTIONS CONTRIBUTED VIA THE ISOCNZ-L MAILING LIST

June 13, 1999

1) Of most concern is clarification of Telecom's position on the Kiwi Share. Is it Telecom's position that :

a) The Kiwi Share does not apply to non voice calls

b) The Kiwi Share does apply to non voice calls and the new arrangements comply with the kiwi share as 0867 calls are still free

Basically we need to know if the 0867 service is free because Telecom believes it is legally obliged to not charge residential customers for it, or because Telecom merely chooses not to charge for it at this point in time.

2) If it is Telecom's position that the Kiwi Share does not apply to data calls, then is it possible that faxes could be charged for one day, even if dialing from home to a local number?

3) Will 0867 numbers be available for ISPs who have local numbers handled by other telcos (Clear, Saturn)?

4) Will 0867 numbers be required for heavy use voice-chat systems? (there are several 0900 style pickup services which use local numbers extensively and only use the 0900 to ding your phone account for $20)

5) Will non-internet connected heavy use systems such as dedicated quake BBSes be required to use 0867?

6) Will single line BBSes be classified as data or voice circuits for charging purposes?

7) How does Telecom tell the difference between a voice call and a CCITT v.* modem call without snooping and how do you tell if there's an internet connection involved and it's not a fax server or standalone bbs/other system?

8) Does a PC-anywhere bridge into the net on someone's desktop count as an Internet service for Telecom's charging purposes?

9) How will this affect small startup toll carriers using voice-over-Internet technology?

10) Are you able to supply the legal advice that justifies discriminatory charges based on the_local_ number being dialled?

11) Is it true that Telecom are installing gear to rate limit local modem calls to 9600bps.

12) Doesn't Telecom have an obligation to provide adequate infrastructure to cope with this (known) increase in demand, rather than transfer data calls to a network with a lower level of service guarantee?

13) Most international telcos seem to be moving towards tighter integration of voice and data services, so isn't this move a backward step?

14) Precisely how will 111 service be protected by the introduction of this new numbering scheme? Do they not have priority over all other calls at present anyway?

15) Telecom media releases have referred to the off-loading of internet calls from the "voice network" to the "intelligent network". Under the new scheme, will 0867xxxxx calls actually be carried on different inter-exchange trunks or switches than voice calls?

16) Will data calls that are routed off-net (i.e. to other carriers' local numbers) continue to be zero-rated for residential users, or will the 2c/min charge be incurred?

17) If the data calls referred to in (16) above were left alone, and only calls terminating on Telecom's network were switched to the 0867 plan, would this provide adequate protection for the voice network?

18) Precisely which local exchange switches (or inter-switch trunks) are in jeopardy from current congestion levels? Is this really a national problem, or is it localised to particular areas?

19) If other carriers were permitted direct access to local exchange switches, all data calls to be routed off-net could be immediately removed from the inter-exchange trunks. Would Telecom consider working with other carriers to relieve inter-exchange congestion in this manner?

20) One of the stated aims of the proposed plan is to protect voice traffic from overloading caused by data traffic, by refusing data calls to avoid congestion conditions. This implys that voice calls have a greater value to customers than data calls. How has Telecom established that voice calls are more valuable to customers than data calls?

21) Many residential Telecom customers would prefer to have voice calls refused in preference to internet calls, since to them data calls are more important than voice calls. How can Telecom accommodate this for them?

22) Will 0867 numbers be treated exactly the same as calls to numbers within the IP Net numbering plan, with respect to the probability of calls being refused to protect LXes from high load?

23) If an 0867 data call is refused at a local exchange to avoid congestion, how will it be made clear to the caller that the call is being refused due to overloading within Telecom's network, as opposed to a problem at the ISP being called?

24) Suppose an ISP has a service-level agreement with users which guarantees availability of dial-up capacity, by specifying the maximum number of connection attempts required to connect to their service. If Telecom drops calls, how will the ISP be notified that this has happened, so that their SLA measurements can be made accurate? If the dropped calls result in SLAs not being met, how will Telecom cover the ISP's penalty payments to the customer?

25) Some ISPs may incur very significant costs in having to change over to using the 0867 system.Costs may include publications, marketing material,stationery, helpdesk resources to change customer dialup programmes over.Will Telecom consider compensation for some or all of any verifiable costs incurred by what has been a unilateral change with no consultation.

26) Did Telecom consider setting up the 0867 on a voluntary basis initially (ie with no 2c charge for local access) to see if that would result in most ISPs changing over.

27) Telecom mention in their press release projected figures for residential internet call loads in 2002. Does this mean that Telecom do not expect to have an alternative residential internet access product (e.g. ADSL) in service by 2002?

28) One impact on NZ internet users will be an increasing possibility that calls to the internet will fail, as calls are rejected at local exchange switches to retain spare capacity for voice traffic. How is this strategy "leading New Zealanders to new exciting online worlds"?

29) Can you please specify who will make decisions as to what circumstances will allow Telecom to make the decision to deny ISP calls on the 0867 network.

30) What rights of appeal will ISP's have if their services are being cut without just cause ? Will Xtra be required by statute to drop equal numbers of lines during outages (even if operating on a different network) so that it can be clearly demonstrated that Telecom are not taking advantage of a dominant position ?

31) Why is it necessary for ISPs to "apply" for new numbers.Why can't the 0867 prefix simply be processed by the exchange so as to flag the call as "low-priority" in the same way as a number of dialing prefixes are already processed to modify the behaviour of a call (ie: the 0176 (or whatever) for withold caller-ID.

32) What plans are in place to upgrade the PSTN or introduce an alternative network for residential data services and when will these alternatives be available so as to restore a reasonable level of service to residential Internet users?

33) How does treating residential Internet traffic as "second rate" affect the government's (the Communication Minister's) vision of turning New Zealand into a "Knowledge Based Economy"?

© 1999 The Internet Society of New Zealand
Last updated 13 June 1999