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The typical (meaning average) ATM port charges shown in Table 8-7 are list prices. Depending upon the service provider and the users business relationship, pricing can be flexible. Negotiate. Negotiate. Negotiate. Shop around and strike the best deal you can. The price of aDS-3 port can vary from $400 to $12,000 per month. Do not share your pricing information gleaned from the other service providers when dealing with any particular service providers account team. Keep the account team in the dark about the competitions pricing. Believe it or not, not every service providers ATM pricing is public knowledge and each service provider is attempting to determine the competitions pricing and align their pricing with the competition.
Backhaul charges are applied to the customers whose traffic must be transported indirectly for some portion of the transmission path to the intended destination. Due to the location of service provider POPs, some ATM traffic may have to travel as much as twice the distance as the physical distance between source and destination. Backhaul charges may be buried in the recurring port or PVC charge and not broken out separately. Ask the service providers sales team if backhaul charges are applicable for the ATM access locations in the users network. If backhaul charges are applicable, determine how much. Remember, backhaul charges are recurring, that is, the user pays the charges every month. The user may find that changing the location of ATM access for one or more nodes may result in considerable monthly savings at the expense of moving some equipment one time.
ATM PVC rates are variable from service provider to service provider. Rate structures are typically not public information. Over half of the U.S. service providers have not disclosed their pricing structure. So it is not surprising to find huge differences in prices for the same service. A shopper can find as much as 25 times the difference in price for access, before discounts.
The rate structure shown in Figure 8-6 is for a PCR of 1.544 Mbps. Notice the dip in the PVC cost at about 1024 Kbps. 1024 Kbps is cheaper than 895 Kbps and almost the same price as 830 Kbps. Why would any service provider sell 1024 Kbps cheaper than 895 Kbps? What logic resides in the rate structure shown? Probably the inexperience of the person responsible for analyzing network costs and compiling the rate structure. This particular rate structure is for VBR-nrt service with PCR equal to 1.544 Mbps. There is a rate structure for each SCR/PCR and for each class of service offered by a service provider. If the user can pry the rate structures from the service providers (maybe an unrealistic expectation) and similarly graph the SCR/PCR rates, other interesting economizing opportunities may become evident. I have analyzed other rate structures with similar results.
Does it make any difference whether a user subscribes to CBR or VBR service? Well, Table 8-8 provides a resounding answer to the question. CBR class of service is much more expensive than VBR. If the user wants the bandwidth reserved for exclusive use 24 hours per day, seven days per week, the user must be willing to pay the hefty price tag. Ensure the application demands the class of service before signing on the dotted line.
Bit Rate (Kbps) | CBR | VBR-rt (PCR=1.544Mbps) | VBR-nrt (PCR=1.544Mbps) |
1024 | $1,650 | $1,000 | $450 |
1344 | $1,950 | $1,150 | $600 |
VBR-rt (PCR=6.18Mbps) | VBR-nrt (PCR=6.18Mbps) | ||
4608 | $5,250 | $4,450 | $2,500 |
VBR-rt (PCR=12.35Mbps) | VBR-nrt (PCR=12.35Mbps) | ||
10800 | $12,250 | $9,200 | $6,250 |
VBR-rt (PCR=16.38Mbps) | VBR-nrt (PCR=16.38Mbps) | ||
16000 | $16,000 | $12,500 | $8,150 |
Table 8-8. CBR and VBR class of service cost comparison
One-stop shopping is simply the inclusion of all telecommunications services and charges in one customer bill, preferably with all customer services provided by the single service provider. For many companies, one-stop shopping is a simple idea that has great market appeal. One-stop shopping is appealing to service providers also. Besides being a market stratagem with broad appeal, one-stop shopping integrates and streamlines service provider back office systems by reducing the number of separate business systems. However, ATM is an infant transport technology that requires at least two more years of growth before anyone attempts to potty train it. Service providers order entry, provisioning, billing, invoicing, network management, and managed customer premises equipment business systems remain stumbling blocks to a back office suite of integrated ATM business management systems. Service providers are accepting new ATM customers on an individual case basis (ICB), although they do not publicize the fact. ICB customers require manual processing of all back office systems. ICBs are a labor-intensive effort for service providers. To get around the internal back office integration hurdle, some service providers are subcontracting as much of the work with third-party vendors as possible. One-stop shopping will probably not be available until 1999 or 2000.
Figure 8-7. Economical ATM?
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