Diversity and Avoidance
It
is difficult to distinguish between these two concepts.
Diversity is for two circuits
from the
provider that use two diverse paths (diversity fees only apply to the second
path), whereas avoidance is for one
circuit which must “avoid” a
path – typically one that is currently in place from a competitor’s circuit,
but can also be a LEC they want to avoid.
Diversity
- this
involves two access circuits, where the customer wants the second circuit to
take a different, unique path (or route). There
are always two circuits, but they do not have to be ordered simultaneously, and
the diversity charges only apply to the second one. The customer can order both circuits at the same time, or at
different times. For example, one
circuit could ordered, and then a second circuit could be ordered a year later with
diversity from the first circuit. All
diversity orders require an SCA !!
Avoidance - this is a rarely requested feature, which is priced in the same way that diversity is priced. Unlike diversity - it only applies to one circuit !! This will be a path which the customer does not want to take. This path is usually an existing circuit from a competitor, but it can also be a request to avoid a specific LEC that they have had problems with in the past . For example, the customer’s location may be served by two different LEC’s and may have the possibility of being homed to two different POP's. The customer could then order a circuit with avoidance of one of the LEC’s and one of the POP’s.
Although there are many types of diversity (LEC, POP, Switch, Transport, and combinations of the various types), on the contract, there are just two different types of diversity. See diagrams on the next page. Usually only the first (access diversity) applies, resulting in one fee, with three components rolled into that one fee, and one product code :
1)
access
diversity
(this is the most common type ordered – it is a combination of LEC, POP, and
Switch – but the order is usually for just POP diversity).
The charges, although on the same product code, vary (the first digits
vary depending on the type of diversity (ATM, FR, IP, DTS, etc.) but it always
ends with 0073). Special pricing
charges, resulting from the SCA, are rolled up into this code, and added to the
contract’s basic fee for this code.
2) transport diversity (rare, and only for DTS) – diverse paths across the entire provider's backbone. This is very expensive for T3 speeds
