Nepal
Telecommunications Authority
-
Quality of Service Parameters
-
for
-
Internet
Service
(Approved by NTA on
12 Asadh, 2064 B.S. (26 June, 2007))
Quality of Service
Parameters
1.0 Background:
1.1
Section 14 of the
Telecommunications Act, 1997 (2053) authorizes Nepal Telecommunications
Authority for the determination and fixation of Quality of
Telecommunications Services and Standard of telecommunications equipment
and facility.
Pursuant to
Section 14 of the Telecommunication Act, 1997, the Authority has
determined the Quality of Service parameters and the corresponding
benchmarks for Internet Service.
1.2
‘Quality of Service (QoS)’
is the main indicator of
the performance of a telecom network and of the degree to which the
network conforms to the stipulated norms and standards specified by the
regulator or any other agency designated for the same. The subscriber’s
perception of the Quality of Service (QoS) is determined by a number of
performance factors. The purpose of laying down Quality of Service
Parameters is to:
o
Create
conditions for consumer satisfaction by making known the quality of
service which the service provider is required to provide and the user
has a right to expect. Thus, it protects the interests of
consumers of telecommunication services.
o
Measure
from time to time the Quality of Service provided by the Service
Providers and to compare them with the norms so as to assess the level
of performance.
1.3 Development of
telecom technologies and reduction in the human dependence of the
telecom networks and customer services calls for periodical review of
the QoS parameters currently set, for redefining the benchmarks as well
as deletion of some existing QoS parameters and addition of some new
parameters based on the merits, world trends and experience.
1.4 The Authority has
decided that the QoS parameter should be more objective than subjective.
There is a requirement to clearly define method (with the clear mention
of time period for averaging the value of parameter) for measurement of
the QoS parameters so that there is homogeneity in the values of QoS
parameters being submitted by different operators to the regulator or
published by the operators as per the license requirements. This will
make easy the evaluation of the services being provided by different
operators by the regulator as well as the customers.
1.5 To make the QoS
parameters more comprehensive, the Authority has decided to sub-divide
the QoS parameters into following four broad categories:
-
·
Network Performance
-
·
Fault Incidence and
Repair
-
·
Billing Complaints
and Redressal
-
·
Customer Perception
regarding the Services
Each of the above
categories is being elaborated in the following paragraphs.
2. QoS Parameters
-
The parameters
described below are applicable to the service availability area and
are applicable for all types of Internet Services, irrespective of
the mode of transmission.
2.1 Network Performance
As with other
services, Network performance is one important QoS parameter in
measuring the quality of Internet services. Poor performance of a
service provider’s network directly leads to poor service quality
and hence leads to increase in customer complaints and overall
customer dissatisfaction regarding the service.
For Internet
services, as there are different flavors of services such as dialup,
copper, wireless, cable and optical connectivity, different sets of
parameters may apply to each of them while some parameters might be
common to all. However, the parameters are so selected that they
are applicable to all the flavors and the benchmarks are chosen to
cover all possible flavors.
The benchmarks
are all meant to apply to the pre-determined busy hour of the
service. Respective service providers shall identify and define
their own service busy hours depending upon the pattern of usage.
The parameters
that apply to different kinds of Internet service have been
identified as per the following:
- a.
Service activation time
- It is the time taken to
activate the subscribed service after the formal demand for the
same.
b.
Time to connect
It is the average time taken
for the user to establish a connection with the ISP server.
c.
Number of attempts for successful connection
The average number of
attempts the user has to make before successfully connecting to
the ISP. It is generally applicable to dialup access.
d.
Node unavailability
It is the overall downtime of
the network / service resources to the subscriber over a defined
period.
e.
Throughput
It is the overall data
transfer rate available to the subscriber in maximum traffic
scenarios (busy hour).
f.
Grade of Service
It is the measure of
proportion of unsuccessful service connections to the total
attempts for the same.
g.
General complaints over 3 month period
It is the number of general
service related (not billing) complaints per 1000 subscribers
over the defined period.
h. Dialup port
contention ratio
It is the ratio of total
dialup ports available to the total number of dialup
subscribers
2.2 Fault Incidence and Repair
Fault Incidence and Repair are
categorized into the following:
-
o
Fault Incidences (No.
of Faults / 100 subscribers / month)
-
o
Fault Repair is
further divided as fault cleared within
-
ü
24 Hours
-
ü
48 Hours
-
ü
72 Hours
2.3 Billing Complaints
Billing complaints are categorized into
the following:
-
o
Billing Complaints per
100 bills issued in one billing cycle.
-
o
Percentage of billing
complaints cleared:
-
ü
Within 24 hours
-
ü
Within 1 week
-
ü
Within 2 weeks
2.4 Customer Perception Regarding the Services
The Authority has determined to sub
divide this parameter into the following category
-
o
Percentage of
customers satisfied with the network performance, reliability and
availability.
-
o
Percentage of
customers satisfied with the provision of service.
-
o
Percentage of
customers satisfied with billing performance.
-
o
Overall customer
satisfaction.
The Authority would determine the modalities of the customer survey.
3. Quality of Service Parameters and its corresponding benchmarks
In view of
the above, the Authority has determined the following QoS parameters
(along with benchmark values and period for averaging) for Internet
Service.
|
S.
No. |
Parameter |
Benchmark |
|
Network Performance |
|
1 |
Service activation time |
< 24
hrs |
|
2 |
Time to connect |
< 1 min |
|
3 |
Number of attempts for
successful connection |
Maximum
of 3 |
|
4 |
Node unavailability |
< 30
min. in a month |
|
5 |
Mean time to restore |
< 3
days |
|
6 |
Throughput based on local
content |
At
least 90% of defined rate in 95% of access time |
|
7 |
Dialup port contention ratio |
Not
less than 1:10 |
|
8 |
General complaints over 3
months period |
< 50
per 1000 subscribers |
|
Fault Incidence and Repair |
|
9 |
No of fault incidences per
100 subscribers per month. |
< 3 |
|
10 |
Fault incidences repaired
within 24 hours |
90% |
|
11 |
Fault incidences repaired
within 48 hours |
95% |
|
12 |
Fault incidences repaired
within 72 hours |
99% |
|
Billing Complaints and Redressal |
|
13 |
Billing complaints per 100
bills issued in one billing cycle |
Not
exceeding 2% |
|
14 |
% of billing complaints
cleared within 24 hours |
80% |
|
15 |
% of billing complaints
cleared within 1 week |
90% |
|
16 |
% of billing complaints
cleared within 2 weeks |
99% |
|
Customer Perception Regarding the Service |
|
17 |
% of customers satisfied
with the network performance, reliability and availability. |
95% |
|
18 |
% of customers satisfied
with the provision of service. |
95% |
|
19 |
% of customers satisfied
with billing performance. |
95% |
|
20 |
Overall customer
satisfaction |
90% |
Top
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