A group of INCA members met at the offices of Community Fibre on 14 Jan 20. This followed on from the Working Group at the AGM. to discuss the latest position on the Gaining Provider Led Switching process, co-ordinated by the OTA, plus moves towards supporting wholesale aggregation amongst Wave 2 altnets. Both are knotty issues. Ofcom sent out a written 'rap on the knuckles' to members of the GPL Switching industry group for not reaching agreement on just one process. We will be seeking input on INCA-members’ preferred choice.
Meanwhile progress on forming a common approach to wholesale aggregation seems to be moving forwards. Progress needs to be faster. In general our preference is for a common platform that can aggregate an agreed set of services with SLAs, engage with the service provider sector, and which is independently run under common industry control, and we are working to promote such an approach.
Action points from the meeting that INCA is taking up include:
- Continuing to provide an information service to members on these linked topics
- Respond to consultations, seeking member input.
- Support members to interface with whichever GPL Switching process wins out
- Work with members to create a service spec, SLA and framework contracts to facilitate wholesale trading
- Co-operate with organisations working to develop switching and wholesale hubs
Our briefing note is available here and there's a Feb 20 Update here.
The next SWSIG meeting is on Wed 26 Feb 20 at Paddington.
Mike Locke (mike.locke@inca.coop) is taking the lead in co-ordinating these efforts with the Switching and Wholesale Group. To join the group contact Mike or you can register for the SWSIG here. A full report on this meeting including presentations and minutes is available to new SWSIG members on request.