BT's charges to YOUR ISP

[Russ]

Commercial Service Framework †“ New Charges Process

Broadband Services will soon implement a new charges process to penalise Service Providers (SPs) in extreme or obvious cases that they abuse our system. This new process forms part of the Commercial Service Framework project which looks at ways of encouraging SPs to improve their performance. SMC teams are asked to nominate relevant cleared faults for charging, but there are strict criteria which must be followed in order for this to work well. The aim is not to raise revenue, rather encourage SPs to improve their performance, so accuracy is vital.

Possible charge types:

Administration Charge: When there is no relevant information at all on a fault report / submission or the information is inaccurate

Abortive Visit Charge: When a fault report has resulted in a CSE visit, and the fault is clearly not due to BT Wholesale

We will only charge if the abuse is extreme or obvious and we have the evidence to prove this †“ we must be 100% sure that fault is due to the customer. What does this mean?

Only the following clear types, which can be easily proved, can be nominated:

Reason Code: Rejection

Detail Code: Insufficient / incorrect EU verification / fault report details

Detail Code: Circuit not yet provisioned /circuit ceased

Reason Code: Retest: CSE non-BT CPE/Network fault

Detail Code: Fault identified on customer data wiring/connections/filters(not remedied)
Detail Code: Incorrectly installed or faulty microfilters (fault cleared on visit)

Reason Code: Retest: CSE clear cust. misop

Detail Code: Misoperation/installation of Hardware/Software
Detail Code: EU account mismanagement (e.g. password)
Detail Code: Customer connected incompatible equipment

Reason Code: Retest: Retest: CSE clear equip/wiring

Detail Code: Non BT Maintained PSTN Equipment

Note: DCN (intermittant connection) faults can now also be nominated.

What is evidence?

We are 100% sure it is not BTâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s fault
CSE specific notes
Conversation with end user recorded in notes
Conversation with CSE recorded in notes
Diagnostic proof when relevant (no connection faults)
Use initial clear codes as a guide, but they do not constitute evidence

How do you nominate a fault for a charge?

Once a fault is cleared you may nominate a fault for a charge by sending the case ID to your Team Manager / Team Leader who will then examine the evidence and use the official form to submit the nomination to the CSF Coordinator.

What are the charge prices?

Zero charge (appearing on invoice for IPStream, letters sent to SP for DataStream) for 1st 3 months
Abortive Visit Charges: £50 + VAT per visit
Administration Charge: £46 + VAT for first hour, then £23 + VAT for subsequent hours (or part hour).

What happens after a fault is nominated?

The fault will be submitted to a new role, CSF Coordinator, who will decide whether the charge will be applied. The Coordinator will check against the charging criteria to ensure we only charge for those faults for which we have enough evidence.
Please note:

Do not assume all nominated faults will be charged! The decision to charge rests with the CSF Coordinator
Make sure all GPMS notes are accurate, up-to-date, and all conversations, CSE notes recorded properly †“ we will use these as evidence!
You can use the following script for customers who submit a fault over the phone: †œThe submission of your fault report indicates that you believe the fault to lie within the BT Wholesale network. If the information you have provided us with is inaccurate or incomplete, or you subsequently order a field visit and the fault is found not be BT related, you may be chargedââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚ÂÂ�
Please do not proactively talk to end customers about these charges. If an end customer asks whether they will be charged for an Abortive Visit, please tell them that †œYour service provider may be charged and you should discuss the matter with them.ââ‚ƚ¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ�

So if you have ADSL through another ISP and you report a fault to them, this is what happens if they try and fob it off to BT.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Russ D

What is evidence?

We are 100% sure it is not BTâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s fault

Ok....That sounds reasonable.

[Russ]

lol well....it's there for information purposes....

[Gareth]

Interesting info

Sounds fair to me, after all, BT have to incur expenses that could have been avoided if an end user's ISP had been more thorough in their diagnostics, so they're just passing these costs back to the ISP if the issue is not related to BT.