How Does Level 3 Deal with Nightmarish Task of Integrating Disparate Transport Gear?

Implications: 1.      Level 3 is faced with an expensive, work-intensive, but doable undertaking of dealing with SONET boxes that came from a couple of dozen different suppliers.   2.      One way would be almost akin to building a dam for a river – only doing it numerous times around the network. 3.      Level 3 will need to have a totally clear vision of how it wants to end up at the conclusion of the process.

Analysis:  In constructing a dam, one puts kind of an alternate river around where the dam is going to be built.   The dam is completed – close off the alternate – then the river goes back to the original path.  In the same way, Level 3 could take each network –build something parallel to it – dismantle it – and then bring it back.  Essentially, it is a stepped program to migrate customers to an intermediate network until the carrier can get the complete integrated network working.  So, it does entail two moves for every subscriber.  Three to four-hour network maintenance windows would need to be scheduled in the middle of the night on a customer-by-customer basis (with their approval).  Of course, just because it is at night, it does not mean the subscriber wants the network to go down.  In fact, the networks are often in use 24 hours a day.   

A more typical approach minimizes downtime.  Carriers do an overlay on a new pair of fibers for all of the traffic – build all of the circuits on a new set of boxes – have it all ready to go and then essentially at the end points, go off and flip them over – just move client connections from one box to the other box.  In this way, the service provider gets more customers done and is going to affect fewer people for a shorter period of time.