Previous | Table of Contents | Next |
Service provider charges for ATM service include several elements. The amount charged by the service provider for each element can vary widely from region to region and service provider to service provider. The ATM pricing elements are port installation, port, port reconfiguration, PVC fixed usage, usage per megabyte charge, and additional feature charges. The pricing factors are number of PVCs, usage, distance, PCR, and SCR rates.
Usage-based billing is a feature of SVC service. The idea is simple enough: The user pays only for the bandwidth used when it is used. However, SVCs are not yet offered by the service providers. The issue with SVCs is not equipment availability to deal with SVC connections but rather the service provider back office systems and cumbersome internal management processes. Service providers must expend a herculean effort over several years just to plan, organize, and implement the business systems to manage the provisioning, order entry, billing, and invoicing of any service feature. Users can expect some service providers to offer SVCs by 1998 year-end.
Distance is a factor in ATM pricing for obvious reasons. The greater the distance to haul anything, the greater the cost. A subtle cost factor not necessarily broken out separately in the users contract is backhaul charges.
Additional features the user may be charged for include network monitoring and management, CPE installation and maintenance, and network reports.
A typical port installation charge averages $15 per port. The port installation charge is applicable every time a new port is installed.
A typical port reconfiguration charge averages $15. The port reconfiguration charge is applicable every time the user changes the parameters of the port such as SCR and/or PCR and VC/VP.
Service provider rate structures typically consist of five components. Each of these components may or may not be broken out separately on the users contract and the users invoice. The five rate components are access charge, access coordination, port charge, PVC charge, and backhaul charge.
Access charges are the charges for connection to the local loop. Access charges are based on standard tariff rates. Access charges are a feature of deregulation and are intended to compensate the local operating telephone companies for the loss of subsidies once allegedly paid by AT&T. This is the charge levied by the local service provider who is probably not the ATM service provider this year. But, due to deregulation and the penetration of local markets by the long-haul service providers, the local service provider very well could be the ATM service provider within the next year or two.
The access charge is levied from the users premises to the ATM service providers Point of Presence (POP). With the typical ATM backbone network having 25 POPs, the local access charge can be a significant piece of the users monthly ATM cost. That is, if the users POP is not colocated in the same community as the service providers POP, the user must pay to have the cells hauled to and from the service providers POP. If the user is in Butte, Montana, and the nearest ATM service provider POP is in Denver, then the user must pay the local access provider its tariffed rate to haul the ATM cells from Butte to Denver. Even if the service providers POP and the users POP are colocated, there is still a tariffed local access charge.
Figure 8-6. Typical service provider PVC rate structure
Access coordination (AC) charge is one of those regulatory fees intended to subsidize for the loss of monopolistic markets. Oh, well.
The PVC charge is also called the usage charge. The PVC charge is directly related to the number of bits the user transmits over the ATM backbone. Typically, the more bits that are transmitted, the higher the charge. The PVC charge varies according to the class of service contracted for and the associated traffic parameters, such as SCR and PCR.
Port charge is the charge for the bandwidth chosen by the user to connect to the ATM backbone. Various port bandwidths are available depending upon the service provider and the capabilities of their ATM backbone. Typical bandwidths are DS-1, DS-3, OC-3, and NxDS-1. Notice the bandwidth is specified as a port speed.
ATM UNI | Port Speed | Recurring Price per Month | Price per Bit (cents) |
DS-0 | 0.064 Mbps | $1,500 | 2.3 |
DS-1 | 1.544 Mbps | $2,000 | 0.13 |
2xDS-1 | 3.088 Mbps | $3,000 | 0.097 |
3xDS-1 | 4.50 Mbps | $3,325 | 0.074 |
4xDS-1 | 6.0 Mbps | $3,650 | 0.06 |
5xDS-1 | 7.50 Mbps | $3,975 | 0.053 |
6xDS-1 | 9.0 Mbps | $4,300 | 0.048 |
7xDS-1 | 10.50 Mbps | $4,625 | 0.044 |
8xDS-1 | 12.0 Mbps | $5,000 | 0.042 |
DS-2 | 6.312 Mbps | $3,500 | 0.055 |
DS-3 | 44.736 Mbps | $6,100 | 0.14 |
DS-4 | 274.176 Mbps | $24,000 | 0.0088 |
OC-3 | 155.520 Mbps | $10,000 | 0.0064 |
Table 8-7. Typical ATM port charges
Previous | Table of Contents | Next |