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ADSL Layer 2 Assurance

The Structural Separation Undertaking (SSU) is a set of commitments Telstra has made to the ACCC

that requires Telstra to provide transparency and equivalence in relation to the supply by Telstra of

made in the SSU.

The NSBU utilises equivalent systems, processes and procedures for the assurance of ADSL Layer 2

services for both retail and wholesale customers including the issuing, processing, management and

completion of tickets of work issued to field staff. This ensures that the fault detection, handling and

rectification of an ADSL Layer 2 service can occur in an equivalent manner regardless of whether a

ticket of work was received from a retail or wholesale customer.

Fault Detection, Handling and Rectification – Wholesale Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

(ADSL) Layer 2

Service Improvement in Assurance Management (SIIAM) is a tool used for reporting customer faults

and service difficulties. SIIAM manages the lifecycle of faults including incident capture, problem

diagnosis, restoration activity tracking and fault restoration details. SIIAM will create cases from a

number of different media such as auto-creation from external systems, manual and via the web.

These cases are then either resolved by Front of House (FoH) staff at the initial point of contact (out

of scope of this process document), or dispatched to various queues within SIIAM to be resolved by

the appropriate remediation group.

Linx Online Service (LOLS) is a web-extension of the SIIAM assurance Management System and is

Telstra’s wholesale service assurance fault ticketing system. The LOLS application is integrated in the

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LOLS allows, in a secure online browser environment, the Access Seeker (AS) to:

• interact with Telstra technical staff with additional notes and updating information within

• LOLS;

• view up to date information on major network outages;

• view Incorrect Callout Charge information; and

• close a fault report.

Fault allocation

Business rules that are configured in SIIAM/LOLS will determine the appropriate course of action for

fault resolution. Initial SIIAM testing and diagnosis will determine whether the case is assigned to

testers or specialist groups for further testing and investigation or whether a sub-case is created and

in which to restore the service (where access to the end user premises is unlikely to be required)

which is sent through to the field workforce for resolution.

Once this task is received in PROMISE MOBILE, the Back Ground Optimiser (BGO) (automated

system) allocates the tasks to the Communications Technician (CT). This may need further manual

refinement or rescheduling by the Field Resource Co-ordinators.

Fault Detection and Handling

Prior to conducting testing the CT will contact the wholesale customer to advise that they will be

working on the fault.

FAST is a tool utilised to provide field staff with a standard network based testing environment. To do

this FAST interfaces with the Subscribers Universal Line Test Access Network (SULTAN) via an

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) unit. SULTAN is Telstra's national system for remote testing and

fault diagnosis of Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) services, principally the Customer

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Access Network (CAN), customer premise equipment, and the associated exchange inlet. FAST

• Capacitance; and

• Open Circuits.

The service will proceed through each of these tests separately, and the results of a particular test will

determine whether the service will proceed to the next test. If an out of specification result is received

the CT is then automatically offered a second level test. This option runs all tests again.

OATS is an online tool available to the field workforce and the AS for testing ADSL. There are three

package tests available via the OATS tool:

• Package test with premises parameters set;

• Package test with exchange parameters set; and

The CTS Standard Model is a multi-functional test unit designed to provide the CT with the core test

functionality for copper pair testing in one unit. The functionality list of the CTS is:

• Multi-meter (AC/DC, loop resistance);

• Resistance Fault Location (RFL);

• Pulse Echo Testset (PET);

• Capacitance meter;

• Balance meter;

• Remote device; and

• Noise/Pair quality.

Fault Rectification

Where the service is not testing within specifications, the CT will travel to the first work location (end-

user premises, exchange, pillar, pit, etc.). When the CT arrives at the first work location they will

conduct further testing with appropriate fault locating equipment to identify the fault location. The CT

will verify the ADSL signal to the Telstra Gateway via OATS testing, checking modem sync, lights and

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power and using ADSL Test gear to prove signal at the Network Boundary Point (NBP) (usually the

interfere with the ADSL modem. If an ADSL signal is present at the cable pair then the CT will identify

any potential source of a fault symptom within the network provisioning the service and complete any

required repair, replacement or, if the current network path is unable to be restored, the transposition

of the service to an alternate network path, to restore the service to specification.

The CT will also keep the wholesale customer informed of progress, the expected completion time

and the likelihood of service interruptions.

Upon repair of the service the CT will conduct another FAST/OATS and/or CTS test to ensure the

service is testing within prescribed technical specifications before completing the ticket of work. Both

complete the task in PROMISE MOBILE, and add any relevant completion comments. They will

ensure accurate restoration times are recorded when completing the ticket of work. The restoration

time used is the actual time the service was restored and not the time when all activities associated

with the ticket of work were completed.

Where the service has been restored by way of transposition to an alternate network path, the CT will

enter a Customer Network Improvement (CNI) into the CNI database in PROMISE MOBILE,

identifying the faulty network element and the required work to remediate the infrastructure to

standard. As this network element is no longer provisioning the end-user these are managed in a

separate process.

user contact, team manager sequence number, name and contact number, customer priority and

whether the fault is affected by an outage. The CT will contact the wholesale customer and advise of

the reasons for the delay in restoration.

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The workgroup who receives the ticket will read all relevant notes and details provided by the CT and

There may be other reasons the CT is unable to complete a task. These reasons could include:

• extreme weather conditions;

• insufficient time and/or spare parts required; and

• end user not in attendance.

If the CT is unable to complete the task for any reason, they will update the task to reflect the

incomplete reason, with appropriate notes and incomplete code. The ticket of work will then be seen

in a review queue in PROMISE MOBILE. From that point, the ticket of work will be manually managed

by the customer service consultants for that geographic region, who will liaise with the customer to

reschedule the appointment/commitment for a later date or seek after hours attention, if required. The

When the service is restored and the case closed, the wholesale customer will automatically receive

an SMS or e-mail (generated by SIIAM), according to the preferred contact method selected by the

wholesale customer, to advise the service has been restored.