ACCESS? WHAT ACCESS?
The Interexchange Carriers (IXCs)--including AT&T, MCI, Sprint, Level 3 Communications, and now SBC and Verizon--hate dealing with access facilities. Usually, an IXC will assume the same level of responsibility for the access it provides over its own facilities (for example, access provided to "lit" buildings) as for the other services it sells. This isn't the case with resold access--including access connections from local exchange carriers. Resold access often generates the most provisioning and operational problems, yet it's the service or circuit element over which the IXC has the least control. Even SBC and Verizon are affected because most states require that the local exchange part of these behemoths deal with their long distance unit the same way they deal with AT&T and MCI.
Nevertheless, the IXC should take responsibility for all the access it sells. To the customer, the IXC is the access provider and earns the revenue. The customer has no contractual relationship with the local exchange carrier to actually furnish the access circuit. If the IXC won't take responsibility, the customer has no redress if the access facility goes down. Moreover, the IXC will usually impose additional charges if the customer arranges for access directly. If the carrier is selling the service and imposing financial (and sometimes operational) hurdles that penalize customers for obtaining their own access, the carrier should be held accountable for the access it provides.
If an SLA excludes access facilities (for example, a frame relay availability SLA that only measures uptime port to port), it's important to either modify the SLA or to negotiate a separate SLA with the IXC for access. IXCs have a hard time managing the local exchange carriers, but they're the only ones in a position to do it. If the IXC isn't accountable for that access under an SLA, it has no incentive to manage the local exchange carrier, and the customer loses an important tool for managing the IXC.
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