verizon Ethernet Switched E-Line + Service Level Agreement User Manual

**verizon Ethernet Switched E-Line + Ser

**

Service Level Agreement Summary. The E-Line EVC Service Level Agreement (“E-Line EVC SLA”) is available to Customers with a minimum of a one (1) year commitment for each E-Line EVC. Verizon reserves the right to amend the E-Line EVC SLA from time to time effective upon written communication that may be delivered in the invoice or by other reasonable means.

The E-Line EVC SLA sets forth Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy for any claim relating to E-Line EVC. Verizon will determine in its sole discretion what records and data will be the basis for all SLA calculations and determinations. The maximum amount of credit in any calendar month under this SLA will not exceed the amount that, absent the credit, would have been charged for the E-Line EVC service in that month for the particular E-Line EVC that was the subject of the credit.

This E-Line EVC SLA consist of five service level standards and associated metrics pertaining to the performance of E-Line EVC (“Service Level Standards”). Customer may qualify for credits when the Service Level Standards are not met.

Available Service Level Standards. The types of Service Level Standards offered are as follows:

• Availability
• Mean Time to Repair (“MTTR”)
• Round Trip Delay (“RTD”)
• Data Delivery Ratio (“DDR”)
• Frame Jitter (“FJ”)

Coverage   Categories. The Service Level Standards vary by Local Access operational levels and performance levels of Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Software Defined Interconnect and are applicable to the specific E-Line EVC(s) from the Geographic Region or Global Tier A Countries or Global Tier B Countries where Customer has a site sending traffic to the Geographic Region or country where Customer has a site receiving traffic based on the following variables:

Local Access Types. E-Line EVC SLA covers On-Net (Platinum or Software Defined Interconnect) access and Off-Net access but does not apply to any Customer provided Local Access portion of OffNet access. Service Levels for Off-Net access are offered in three levels of performance classifications:

• Gold (Types 2 *, 3, 4 and 5 network configurations)

• Silver (Standard network configuration, DSL Services)

• Bronze (DSL Services)

• Type 2 network configuration is not available for EMEA/APAC-sold Customers

Outage Types. The E-Line EVC SLA defines service disruptions as either a Hard Outage or a Service Issue. The service restoration priority determines the ranking of the repair actions against other service related events. A Hard Outage has Priority 1 service restoration priority with the exception of Hard Outages for Off-Net Silver which has Priority 2 Service restoration priority. A Service Issue has Priority 2 Service restoration priority.

The E-Line EVC Availability and MTTR Service Level Standards apply only to Hard Outages. RTD, DDR and Frame Jitter apply to Service Issues. Priority 3 and Priority 4 issues do not affect functionality of service and are not eligible for SLA credits.

Priority Criteria

Priority 1| Total loss of Service or degraded Service to the extent that it isunusable by Customer and Customer is prepared to release its Service for immediate testing
Priority 2| Degraded Service, however Customer is able to use the Service and is not prepared to release its Service for immediate testing
Priority 3| A problem with the Service that does not impact the functionality ofthe Service; including a single non-circuit specific quality of Service inquiry
Priority 4| Non Service affecting requests (e.g. a Customer request for an incident report) and all other queries not covered by Priority Faults 1– 3 above. Scheduled maintenance

Class of Service. The E-Line EVC class of service (“CoS”) delivery methodology is based on 802.1q
IEEE standards and follows the Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”) Differentiated Services (“DiffServ”) model (i.e. IETF RFC 2474). The Verizon traffic priority classes are identified as:

Diff-Serv Queue| E-Line EVC Class of Service Naming| 802.1q P-bits
---|---|---
EF| Real Time Data (RT)| 5 and 6
AF4, AF41, AF42/43, AF3, AF31, AF32/33| Priority Data (PD)| 4
AF2AF21, AF 22/23| Business Data (BD)| 2 and 3
BE| Basic Data (B)| 0,1, and 7

Geographical Location. The countries covered under this SLA are divided into the following categories:

• U.S. Region: Contiguous 48 United States, Hawaii, and Alaska
• Global Tier A: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Global Tier B: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Greece, Guam, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand
• Global Tier C: Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Slovenia, South Africa, Vietnam’

Service Level Standards

Parameter| Local Access Level| Scope| U.S.| Global Tier A| Global Tier B
---|---|---|---|---|---
**** Availability| Wireline/Wireline Dual Connection * Platinum/Gold/Silver/Bronze| End-to-End| 100%| 100%| 100%
Platinum| End-to-End| 100%| 100%| 100%
Gold| End-to-End| 99.9%| 99.9%| 99.9%
Silver| End-to-End| 99.5%| 99.5%| 99.5%
Bronze| End-to-End| 97.0%| 97.0%| 97.0%
Software Defined Interconnect| End-to-End| 99.9%| 99.9%| 99.9%
**** Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)| Platinum| End-to-End| 2 Hours| 4 Hours| 4 Hours
Gold| End-to-End| 4 Hours| 5 Hours| 8 Hours
Silver| End-to-End| 4 Hours| 8 Hours| 8 Hours
Bronze| End-to-End| 24 Hours| 24 Hours| 24 Hours
Software Defined Interconnect| End-to-End| 4 hours| 4 Hours| 4 Hours

• Wireline/Wireline Dual Connection: Verizon provides a second equivalent circuit for the same  ustomer  Site that may be configured as either active or passive, and as providing either Layer 2 Switch  eographic Diversity or Service Edge Diversity, as Customer elects. If site has Dual Connection then only Dual Connection SLA can be claimed and not the individual circuit availability SLAs. Dual Connection SLA can only be claimed if both primary and secondary circuits are down. Dual Connection SLA will be paid  n both primary and secondary EVC and Access MRR.

Parameter

| Access Level| Scope| E-Line EVC| E-LAN EVC RT| E_LAN EVC PD/BD| E-LAN EVC B
---|---|---|---|---|---|---
Data Delivery Ratio (DDR)| On-Net, Off-Net| PE-to-PE| ≥ 99.995%| ≥ 99.995%| ≥ 99.99%| ≥ 99.95%
Round Trip Delay (RTD)| On-Net, Off-Net| PE-to-PE| See Applicable Standard Below
Frame Jitter| On-Net, Off-Net| PE-to-PE| < 5 ms| < 5 ms| NA| NA

Service Level Standards Defined

Availability

Definition. Eligible Hard Outage Minutes are used to calculate Availability for E-Line EVC. Availability is the total number of Eligible Hard Outage Minutes in a calendar month for a specific Customer connection, divided by the total number of minutes based on a thirty (30) day calendar month. Availability includes the Local Access from the Customer premises to the Verizon E-Line EVC Provider Edge and the Core Network. Availability excludes Customer provided Local Access and CPE not provided as part of the E-Line EVC Service. An E-Line EVC point-to-point connection has one Local Access circuit on each end and Availability Service Level Standard for an E-Line EVC provisioned with two different Local Access levels is determined by the Local Access level having the lowest Availability Service Level Standard.

Standard. See Service Level Standard tables above.

Calculation. Availability is calculated after Customer opens a Priority 1 Trouble Ticket with Verizon and represents the percentage of time that the connection for E-Line EVC is available within a given calendar month except as specified below. Hard Outages for E-Line EVC provisioned with Off-Net Silver are handled as Priority 2 tickets and eligible for the Availability Service Level Standard.

Availability (%) = (1 – (Total Eligible Hard Outage Minutes per connection for E-Line EVC per month / 43,200 minutes )) x 100

Credit Structure. The credit is based on the number of Eligible Hard Outage Minutes independent of the actual percent availability calculation. Credit tables are provided in Section 6.

Mean Time To Repair (“MTTR”)

Definition. MTTR is defined as the average time taken to restore a connection for E-Line EVC during a Hard Outage an E-Line EVC has one Local Access circuit on each end and Availability Service Level Standard for E-Line EVC provisioned with two different Local Access levels is determined by the Local Access level having the lowest Availability Service Level Standard.

Standard. See Service Level Standard tables above.

Calculation. MTTR is an average of the time taken to repair all Priority 1 Trouble Tickets generated by Customer on a specific connection for E-Line EVC except as specified below. Hard Outages for Off-Net Silver are handled as Priority 2 tickets and Eligible for MTTR. The duration of each Hard Outage on a specific E-Line EVC is totalled at the end of each calendar month and divided by the corresponding number of Hard Outages for that E-Line EVC. This is calculated from Trouble Tickets opened during that calendar month. MTTR per calendar month is calculated for Customer’s Service as follows:

Cumulative length of Hard Outage(s) per E-Line EVC / Total number of Trouble Tickets per calendar month per E-Line EVC

Credit   Structure. The credit is based on the average repair times for all Hard Outages on a specific E-Line EVC within a calendar month. Credit tables are provided in Section 6. Customer may qualify for credits under the MTTR Service Level Standard in addition to the E-Line EVC Availability Service Level Standard for a particular Hard Outage.

Data Delivery Ratio (“DDR”)

Definition. The DDR Service Level Standard represents the E-Line EVC effectiveness in transporting Customer frames across its Core Network. DDR is the average ratio of Ethernet frames within a specified traffic priority class that are successfully delivered from PE to PE between Provider Edge devices within the Verizon Core Network to total Ethernet frames within the specified traffic priority class that are sent over Verizon’s Core Network in a calendar month, excluding frames that are not delivered due in whole or in part to factors unrelated to Verizon’s Core Network. The DDR Service Level Standard for E-Line EVC Real Time Data applies only to traffic that complies with the applicable limitations of Customer’s subscribed E-Line EVC Class of Service. The DDR Service Level Standard does not include frames that are dropped due to congestion at the Customer ingress or egress port.

Standard. See Service Level Standard tables above. If the Ethernet Switched E-Line service does not meet the DDR Service Level Standard, the matter is considered a Service Issue and accorded aService Restoration Priority 2

Calculation. DDR is calculated as the number of E-Line EVC test frames, EVC test frames within the specified traffic priority class that are successfully delivered from PE to PE within the Core Network divided by the total number of E-Line EVC test frames, test frames within the specified traffic priority class, sent per calendar month is:

DDR (DDR for load consisting of frames) = frames Delivered/frames Offered *100

Credit   Structure. To obtain a credit, Customer must open a Trouble Ticket in accordance with the “Process for Customer to Apply for SLA Credits” section below. Verizon will work with Customer to confirm that a DDR issue exists with the Core Network and repair the problem(s), as applicable. Once Verizon confirms that the DDR on the Core Network for a specific Customer E-Line EVC connection does not comply with this Service Level Standard, Verizon will have thirty (30) calendar days from the opening of the Trouble Ticket to address the Service Issue and close the applicable Trouble Ticket before Customer may be eligible for SLA credits. If, after thirty (30) calendar days of opening the Trouble Ticket, the DDR Service Level Standard issue is not corrected, but has been agreed to as a Service Issue, Customer may qualify for credits.

Frame Jitte

Definition. Frame Jitter is the average of the mean deviation of the difference in frame arrival time at the receiver compared to the sender for a pair of frames, calculated on the round trip from PE- toPE within the Core Network.

Standard. The Service Level Standard for Frame Jitter applies to the Core Network performance. If the E-Line EVC service does not meet the Frame Jitter SLA, the matter is considered a Service Issue.

Calculation. Verizon calculates Frame Jitter by measuring the mean deviation of the difference in  testframe spacing at the receiver compared to the sender for a pair of test frames, Verizon calculates the mean by sampling the Core Network frequently and averaging the results over a 30 calendar day period. The calculation for Frame Jitter “J (i)” for two consecutive frames i and i+1 is as follows:

J (i) = DeltaT(i) – DeltaT(i’)

where

T(i) = time 1st byte of frame (i) is received by the source port (ingress time)
T(i+1) = time 1st byte of frame (i+1) is received by the source port (ingress time)
T(i’) = time 1st byte of frame (i’) is received at the destination port (egress time)
T(i+1’) = time 1st byte of frame (i+1’) is received at the destination port (egress time) and

DeltaT(i) = T(i+1) – T(i) (DeltaT(i) is the time interval between frames at ingress)
DeltaT(i’) = T(i+1’) – T(i’) (DeltaT(i’) is the time interval between frames at egress)

The average jitter is calculated as follows:

J = Sum J(i) /(N-1)

where

N is the number of measurement intervals over thirty (30) day period

Credit Structure. To obtain a credit, Customer must open a Trouble Ticket when a Frame Jitter issue surfaces as described in the “Process for Customer to Apply for SLA Credits” section below. Verizon will work with Customer to confirm that a Frame Jitter issue exists with the Core Network and repair the problem(s), as applicable. Once Verizon confirms that the Frame Jitter on the Core Network between specific Customer locations over a connection for E-Line EVC does not comply with this Service Level Standard, Verizon will have thirty (30) calendar days to address Service Issue and close the applicable trouble before Customer may be eligible for credits under this SLA. If, after thirty (30) calendar days of opening the Trouble Ticket, the Frame Jitter Service Level Standard issue is not corrected, Customer may qualify for credits. Customer’s measure of Frame Jitter prior to opening a Trouble Ticket may be used by Verizon as a benchmark for the repair actions.

Round Trip Delay (“RTD”).

Definition. RTD is the PE to PE monthly average round trip delay as measured in milliseconds within or between the Geographic US Regions or Global Tier A Countries or Global Tier B Countries respective PE device pairs on the Verizon Core Network.

Standard. RTD Service Level Standard performance measurements for international and U.S. locations are stated in the:
https://www.verizon.com/business/publications/serviceguide/secure/?path=secure /ethernet-rtdslamatrix-SG.xlsx

Calculation. RTD is determined by measuring transit delay in milliseconds across the Verizon Core Network and averaging the results over a thirty (30) day period from when the Trouble Ticket was  pened.

RTD calculation is as follows:

RTD = T2 – T1

where:

T1 is the time when an Ethernet frame leaves the Ingress Reference Point (i.e., Frame exit event) and T2 is the time when an Ethernet Frame arrives back at the Ingress Reference Point (i.e. Frame return event) with the difference measured.

RTD is measured between the respective origination and destination infrastructure Ports, i.e. between the points where the Frame enters and exits Verizon’s Core Network, regardless of the Local Access to Verizon’s Core Network. External factors, including, but not limited to, Local Access issues, are excluded from the measurement.

Credit Structure. If the RTD Service Level Standard is not met, it is a Service Issue. If the RTD metric for a pair of Customer Sites is not being met, Customer may be eligible for an SLA credit.

To obtain a credit, a Trouble Ticket must be opened with Verizon in accordance with the “Process for Customer to Apply for SLA Credits” section below. Verizon will work with Customer to confirm that a RTD issue exists and repair the problem(s), as applicable. Once Verizon confirms that the RTD Service Level Standard is not being met, Verizon will have thirty (30) calendar days from the opening of the Trouble Ticket to repair the Service to meet the RTD Service Level Standard and close the applicable Trouble Ticket, and in such an event, Customer will not be eligible for a credit. If, after thirty (30) calendar days of opening the trouble ticket, the RTD Service Level Standard continues to not be met, Customer may qualify for a credit. Customer’s measurement of RTD prior to opening a Trouble Ticket may be considered by Verizon in determining the need to repair the Service.

RTD Credit Table:

For Service Level Standard not met| Credit as % of MRC per E-Line EVC
---|---
Round Trip Delay (RTD)| 20%

Exclusions. In addition to the General Exclusions, as set out in the General Exclusion Section below, PE RTD Service Level Standard measurements for E-Line EVC do not include the following:

• All Customer data traffic that is marked Real Time by Customer and is not compliant with the subscribed E-Line EVC Real Time Class of Service feature or any other data traffic that is not compliant with the applicable subscribed E-Line EVC Class of Service.
• All Customer data traffic that is marked by Customer using 802.1p-bit settings not supported by the Verizon E-Line EVC Core Network.

Credit Amounts and Application Process

Credit Tables by Outage Type

• The credits vary by Service Level Standard, location, access type and length of Hard Outage.
• Credit is based on the MRC for each connection of the E-Line EVC.

Hard Outage Credit Schedules.

**Global Tier B
From Hr:Min:Sec| To Hr:Min:Sec| ****Platinum)| ****Platinum)| Gold, Silver or Bronze| Gold, Silver or Bronze| Gold, Silver or Bronze)**
2:00:00| 3:59:59| 4%| NA| NA| NA| NA
4:00:00| 4:59:59| 4%| 4%| 2%| NA| NA
5:00:00| 7:59:59| 10%| 10%| 4%| 4%| NA
8:00:00| 11:59:59| 10%| 10%| 4%| 4%| 4%
≥ 12:00:00| 10%| 10%| 4%| 4%| 4%

• Service Issues occur between the PE Ports of the E-Line EVC Core Network. Consequently, two (2) Customer connections for E-Line EVC will be affected by each Service Issue. For Service Issue credit purposes, the MRC will be defined as the average of the MRCs for each of the two impacted Customer connections for E-Line EVC.

Credit Application Structure. For any calendar month in which Verizon fails to meet any one of the Service Level Standards stated in this document, the credit structure listed above will be applied to the corresponding net billing MRC for the specific connection(s) for E-Line EVC) affected by the Hard Outage(s) or Service Issue(s). The total of all credits within any one month is limited to a maximum of one hundred percent (100%) of the MRC for the specific connection of E-Line EVC affected. Credits for Hard Outages are determined based on Eligible Hard Outage Minutes. Customer may claim the MTTR Service Level Standard credit in addition to the E-Line EVC Availability Service Level Standard credit in a given calendar month. Customer can request Verizon to check all of the standard Service Level Standard commitments when requesting credits in any given month.

All credits will be provided at the billing account number level in one lump sum, as opposed to each individual E-Line EVC connection under multiple BANs. Credits do not apply to Local Access or backhaul charges. The appropriate amount will be credited to the Customer’s account, appearing as a line item on a bill delivered within ninety (90) calendar days following Verizon’s confirmation that the Service Level Standard has not been met.

Process for Customer to Apply for SLA Credits. Customer completes two steps in order to qualify for an SLA credit. First, Customer must open a Trouble Ticket in response to Service issues. This step brings the problem to the attention of Verizon customer service for intervention and repair. The second step is to request the credit in writing from the Verizon account team contact. The timing of the written request varies by Service Level Standard and is detailed below.

The Verizon account team receiving the SLA credit request will confirm receipt with Customer by either email or fax. Verizon will then investigate the outage through the Trouble Ticket history and notify Customer of the outcome of the investigation either by email or fax. The SLA credit is requested with a reason code that consists of the phrase “SLA Credit” plus the involved metric. For example, an SLA credit for MTTR has the reason code of “SLA Credit MTTR”.

Opening a Trouble Ticket. In the case that a trouble ticket is required to document and outage or service event for credit compliance, this can be done either through the Customer Service Center or through the web-based Verizon Enterprise Center. The number for the assigned Customer Service Center is printed on Customer’s invoice. Access to the Verizon Enterprise Center can be requested at the first use by registering at the Verizon Enterprise Center portal https://enterprisecenter.verizon.com/

Submitting a Service Level Agreement Credit Request. The request for a SLA credit is submitted in writing from Customer to the Verizon account team. The timing and content of the request varies by Service Level Standard. This communication can be through email or by fax. Customer may elect to receive verification on all of the Service Level Standards offered in conjunction with their E-Line EVC service when requesting calculations for any single item.

Trouble Ticket and Credit Request by Service Level Agreement

E-Line EVC Availability and Mean Time To Repair. In order for the outage to qualify for an SLA credit Customer must do the following:

• Open a Trouble Ticket within seventy two (72) hours of the time the hard outage.
• Submit SLA credit request to their Verizon account team in writing within fifteen (15) days of opening the Trouble Ticket. The written request must contain the following information:
  • The date the outage occurred.
  • The time the outage began and ended.
  • The circuit ID(s) for each connection that was impacted.

E-Line EVC Round Trip Delay, Frame Jitter and Data Delivery Ratio. In order to qualify for an SLA credit Customer must do the following:

• Customer opens a Trouble Ticket within seventy two (72) hours of the time the Service Issue arose.

• Customer submits SLA credit request to the Account Team in writing within fifteen (15) days
  of the end of the repair period. The written request must contain the following information:

  • The date the Service Issue occurred.
  • The time the Service Issue began and ended.
  • The circuit ID(s) for each connection that was impacted.

Service Level Agreement Credit Time Limitation. After three consecutive months where Verizon has not met the same Service Level Standard (e.g. the Service Level Standard for E-Line EVC has not been met) for the same E-Line EVC:

Customer may elect to discontinue E-Line EVC service for the particular E-Line EVC without liability except for charges incurred prior to discontinuation of the E-Line EVC. To cancel a connection for ELine EVC, Customer must submit a written disconnect notice to its Verizon account team within thirty (30) days following the end of either the third or subsequent consecutive month of Verizon’s failure to meet the Service Level Standard; or

Customer may elect to continue connection(s) for E-Line EVC with the understanding that. Customer can only receive a maximum of six (6) months of credits for any individual Service Level Standard within a 12-month period.

Exclusions

General Exclusions. The following exclusions apply to all Service Level Standards contained in this document. Service Level Standard measurements do not include any periods the Service Level Standard was not met resulting in whole or in part from the following:

• Hard Outage minutes associated with failure of CPE not provided as part of the E-Line EVC service;
• CPE associated with Local Access for E-Line EVC;
• Service disruptions due to Customer traffic exceeding Customer-subscribed bandwidth or sending frames that do not otherwise comply with the applicable limitations on Customer’s subscribed bandwidth;
• Any act or omission on the part of the Customer, its contractors or vendors, or any other entity over which the Customer exercises control or has the right to exercise control;
• Scheduled maintenance on the part of Customer, Customer contractors or Customer vendors;
• Scheduled maintenance on the part of Verizon which is within Verizon’s maintenance windows;
• Emergency maintenance;
• Lapses of E-Line EVC service associated with new installations (i.e. before new service acceptances by Customer);
• Force Majeure Events as defined in Customer’s Contract or on the Guide.

E-Line EVC Availability Service Level Standard Exclusions. In addition to the General Exclusions, E-Line EVC Availability Service Level Standard measurements do not include periods of E-Line EVC Outage resulting in whole or in part from one or more of the following causes:

• For on-net circuits, any act or omission on the part of any third party including, but not limited to any Local Access provider other than any third-party over which Verizon exercises control;
• For off-net circuits, any act or omission on the part of any third party other than a local access provider over which Verizon exercises control;
• Periods of Service degradation where Customer has not released its Service for immediate testing.

Mean Time To Repair Exclusions. MTTR applies only in those cases in which the Customer informs Verizon of an E-Line EVC Outage (i.e., opens a Trouble Ticket) and subsequently allows necessary physical or logical access to its premises and facilities for testing. In addition to the General Exclusions, MTTR Service Level Standard measurements do not include the following:

• Any act or omission on the part of any third party, other than a local access provider over which Verizon exercises control;
• Periods of Service degradation where Customer has not released its Service for immediate testing.

Data Delivery Ratio Exclusions. In addition to the General Exclusions, DDR Service Level Standard measurements do not include any of the following:

• Frames dropped at infrastructure egress due to improper Customer specifications of Customer connection speeds;
• E-Line EVC Traffic marked Real Time Data by Customer that exceeds the subscribed Real Time Class of Service bandwidth;
• Frames dropped at infrastructure egress Port due to congestion caused by Customer’s traffic exceeding subscription parameters.

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References

• AutoSubmit Form
• Secure Guide

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