Case Study – Rehoming Facility Trunks
Complex US interconnect trunking rehome project delivered on time
The Challenge
A US regional wireless Operator had plans to rehome all their trunking facilities from their Texas point of presence (POP) to their Louisiana mobile telephone switching office (MTSO). The Operator needed to analyze their traffic and interconnection agreements with their wholesale service providers to determine proper trunk sizing, optimal routing, and all associated costs to develop the strategy and detailed network plan for over 1,500 interconnection trunks. The Operator had 30 different interconnection agreements (ICAs) that required review. They needed the orders placed with appropriate trunk designs and codes, all inventory records updated to reflect the changes in the plan, and coordination of the traffic moves. The Operator also needed their trunk routing implemented at the switch, and proper notifications and updates sent to the industry standard Local Exchange Routing Guide (LERG) to reflect their network changes in order for other service providers to properly route incoming traffic to the Operator at the time of the migration.
As a smaller, regional Operator, they did not have the required expertise on staff to plan and execute this re-homing project within the short timeframe required.
The Solution
Our team was awarded the project to rehome the Operator’s trunking facilities. Our Senior Switch Engineer conducted an assessment that involved reviewing the appropriate ICAs, traffic records and existing network configurations. Recommendations for vendor and facility options were made after obtaining quotes from various vendors.
Our team was responsible for the implementation of the plan, to include provisioning, inventory updates, code and LERG administration, trunk design, switch routing, and project management of all services. We prepared cut-sheets for the switch with relevant technical data and provided all contact information to ensure a smooth cutover. We delivered custom reporting from TraK™ on all activities and participated in weekly conference calls with multiple stakeholders to provide status updates and resolve issues as part of our project management services.
The Results
Complex projects depend on frequent communication, proper planning, coordination among all stakeholders and excellent data management. Flexibility to adapt to changing conditions on the ground is vital in addition to executing with a sense of urgency. Our team interfaced regularly with the client and service providers via meetings, phone calls, and email. The ordering systems for access service requests (ASRs) and the TraK™ project management system brought all the data together for managing the project via workflows, dashboards and reports.
Our team made completion of this important project by the deadline possible. This included migrating trunks and traffic to the customer’s Louisiana MTSO during the maintenance window.
The Future
This case study illustrates TEOCO’s trunk and traffic design, engineering, routing and implementation capabilities. The managed services provided to this client included various aspects of transport design, engineering, and business case analysis for network projects, provisioning, number administration, LERG administration, inventory management and project management for many major network projects. Based on this success, we later began supporting their 5G network buildout in key markets.
As smaller operators in the industry expand and upgrade their networks, it is often difficult for them to recruit and retain staff with deep expertise in telecom engineering, particularly when they serve rural areas of the country. To address this talent shortage, TEOCO offers a blended program of services that allow clients to access various levels of expertise on an “as-needed” basis, providing TEOCO clients with a valuable engineering and technical managed service offering.