Technical Plan

Under the Introduction section, the selected vendor should provide a description of the purpose of the proposed project and the document. It should contain an overview of the size of the network, the technology to be used, and the intended reach of the system.

This section should discuss the type of equipment that will be used in the proposed project (with actual manufacturer and unit names), and additional details, as required (i.e., the logical design of the network as well as the physical deployment of the equipment). Site locations for the installation of the equipment must be provided to enable the measurement and the assessment of distances between equipment locations. Any technical limitations that may cause service impairment or customer reach issues should also be identified in this section. It is important that this section is not vague, and precisely identifies network equipment locations with an address or a GPS location, preferably including pictures of the locations pre-installation.

This section should include information such as the path between backhaul points and an indication of where the municipal network will link to a larger regional or provincial network for access to the Internet.

This section should also include details pertaining to the load of the base points (typically called the contention ratio) and the expectations of what a full unit will bear in terms of customers. The ISP should then identify how network capacity will be extended to accommodate growth or what they will do when they have equipment running at full capacity and additional customers want service.

For wireless project implementation, this section should also include a description of the spectrum range being used and why it is believed to be the optimal design for the area of the project. This should include considerations i.e., terrain and other topology factors in the coverage area.

An overall geographical map (with towns, communities names) must be included, displaying towers, (if wireless), CO’s, DSL remotes, fiber runs, repeaters, area covered, etc.

This section should contain information on the anticipated performance characteristics of the network. It should identify the typical connection rate that a customer can anticipate, at what point congestion may appear in the service, and what levels of availability and survivability the ISP intends for the network. The ISP should also identify what type of reliability the network will possess, including what their plan is for failures and equipment replacement due to damage.

A list of specific characteristics can be found in the Request for Proposal Sample. Details should include statements on the following items:

• Network availability (backhaul and distribution segments)
• Network reliability – with yearly down time measured in minutes
• Quality of Service details
• Network Redundancy inclusions (for power back up, link failures, server failures, etc.)
• Network Scalability – capability and ease of the equipment, transport and local access network to scale with time

This section provides details on the different equipment to be installed, including how much equipment is required and where it will be installed. This list may then be correlated to the costs of the network (see Business Plan Guide).

These details should include the equipment specifications for each of the components. The provider can also use this section to inform the municipality about any equipment advantages and why they have selected a particular manufacturer for the project. Note: The ISP should be using equipment that is comparable to that of carrier grade networks.

This section should provide a detailed schedule for the network construction. This should include the installation and commissioning of each individual site and an indication of the preparation work that might be required. Any phasing of the construction (e.g., phased roll out for achieving full coverage) should be clearly identified.

The schedule and activity breakdown should be at a level that allows the municipality to understand the key steps and sequence of activities. This will ensure that the network construction plan meets the municipality’s expectations.

It is important to note that the ISP is expected to manage the construction project and will likely use more detailed project management plans to direct actual implementation following approval of the technical plan.

This section should indicate any risks associated with the technology and/or the proposed implementation and attempt to provide risk mitigation paths.

This section should detail the steps that are required for customer installation. It should start with how the customer can contact the ISP to request service and finish with the testing of a final installation.

Included in this section should be a detailed diagram of the network from the users’ premises to the network connection point. This diagram should indicate what equipment is inside or outside of the premises and what options may be required and under what conditions (for instance if a tower or pole mount for wireless is necessary). This section should also describe the provisioning process for such an installation, including timelines from order placement until installation is complete.

This section should detail what is required to support a customer in the event of poor service or failure of service. This process should commence with how potential problems will be identified (i.e. customer calls in or network alarm) and then proceed with the steps required to resolve the issue. Details should cover different types of problems, and the standard procedures for handling these requests. In addition, information on equipment replacement (should the problem be equipment related) should also be included.

This section should provide details on how the provider will conduct regular maintenance on the network. This applies to scheduled maintenance and testing procedures as well as failure/problem maintenance. For each instance, the procedure should include how the operator will inform customers and potentially credit customers for lack of network availability.

This section should address how long the ISP anticipates each of the various components of the network will last, including an indication of how long they intend to use each unit and what the future replacement plans may be. This section should include a procedure to inform customers as well as how to actually replace the equipment. The ISP should also identify how they intend to pay for such a replacement. In many of these projects, ISPs only receive a contribution for initial capital costs; as such, they will need to have a plan to consider equipment replacement that will not require them to seek additional funds.

This section should address what plans the ISP may have relative to upgrading any of the components of the network (software included). If the manufacturer sells upgrade packages the ISP should specify which ones they will use with the selected equipment. In addition, they should include any plans or processes they have for considering new equipment (as technology evolves) and how they would incorporate that into the network to ensure minimal (or no) customer service interruption.

This section should highlight the various processes and systems associated with network maintenance and monitoring. The ISP should describe the operational support systems that will be used to keep the network stable and allow measurement of various performance metrics.

In this section, the ISP should discuss the following:

• Network Operations Center and systems
• Procedures for customer support based on time of day
• How customers can be supported 7/24
• Remote management of client devices
• Regular maintenance scheduling
• Equipment upgrade procedures
• Mean time to repair and replace equipment