Wholesale: Products & Services

Collocation - Qwest Network Interconnection Guidelines Overview - V3.0

Description

These Guidelines and Performance Requirements are intended to provide an operational supplement to the contractual requirements agreed to in your Interconnection Agreements.

General Guidelines and Procedures:

• The following procedures are to be followed by you, your employees, agents, contractors and invitees. Where the terms "you/your" are used, it shall apply to you, your employees, agents, contractors and invitees.
• This document will be provided to you by the Qwest State Interconnect Manager (SICM) before or during the Collocation acceptance procedure. The Qwest SICM will review this information with you and assist you in locating your equipment cable termination points for test access and your Collocation equipment areas, as well as the allowed access routes to these locations.
• Qwest shall hold you responsible for (i) willful or intentional misconduct (including gross negligence and trespass); (ii) bodily injury, death or damage to tangible real or personal property (including services provided by the Qwest network infrastructure) resulting from your actions or the actions of you agents, sub-contractors or employees. Qwest will utilize its standard damage claims processes to assess damages and seek restitution. In cases where damage to Qwest property occurs but no cause can be identified, both you and Qwest will meet jointly to resolve the issue. You may make a claim by calling 1-800-654-2525, Option 1
• If, during the installation, Qwest determines your activities and/or equipment do not comply with Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) Level 1 safety standards, or violate any applicable laws or regulations, Qwest has the right to stop all work until the situation is remedied. If such conditions pose an immediate threat to the safety of Qwest employees, interfere with the performance of Qwest's service obligations or pose an immediate threat to the physical integrity of the conduit system, cable facilities or other equipment in the Premise, Qwest may perform such work and/or take action to correct the situation at your expense.

Collocation Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) Must:

• Secure and lock all doors and gates.
• Report to Qwest Security at 1-888-879-7328:
  • Lost cards or keys and property and equipment losses immediately
  • Any vandalism to company or personal property
  • Unsecured conditions and security violations
  • Anyone who is unauthorized to be in the work area or is not wearing the Qwest identification/access card.
• You must comply with Central Office (CO) fire and safety regulations, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), federal, state and local regulations, which include but are not limited to such items as:
• Individuals must wear safety glasses in designated areas
• Keep floors and aisles clean and free of trip hazards such as wire
• Check ladders before moving them
• Do not leave tools or test equipment on rolling ladders
• Do not block open doors
• Provide safety straps and cones in installation areas
• Place and observe electrical Tag Out program
• Exercise good housekeeping practices
• Cellular telephones are not permitted within the CO
• Extension cords are not to cross aisles/walkways without proper safety markings
• No open flames or smoking shall be permitted anywhere within the building
• No flammable or explosive fluids or materials are to be kept or used anywhere within the building or on the grounds
• No fire extinguishers may be placed in addition to the Qwest provided fire management systems. Fire extinguishers placed and maintained by Qwest in CO areas are of the type recommended in National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 76 for Telecommunications Facilities.

General Building and Grounds:

• No signs, advertisements or notices shall be visible from outside the tenant's designated space from either inside or outside the building, with the exception of the required plaque containing your Company Name and emergency contact (name and contact number). No canvassing, peddling or soliciting shall be permitted within the building or on the grounds.
• You are required to remove all trash from your installation activities in the CO on a daily basis and may not use Qwest trash containers. Sidewalks, vestibules, offices, hallways, stairways, elevator lobbies, etc., shall not be used for storage of materials or disposal of trash. If Qwest is required to dispose of any trash, you shall be responsible for the expense of such removal. You are responsible for ensuring that your space is kept clean and free of hazards. Qwest will provide light housekeeping services (sweeping, spot cleaning and trash removal) in the Qwest common areas.
• You will have access to Qwest rolling A-frame ladders, if available.
• You shall not tamper with, damage or attempt to adjust or remove any environmental control device, building alarm component or other building fixture. You shall not make any modifications, alterations, addition or repairs to any of the Qwest or common space within the building or on the grounds.
• Qwest shall not be held liable or responsible for lost or stolen possessions or personal property of yours.
• Qwest will not act as a receiving or warehousing agent for direct shipment of your equipment to a Qwest CO, except as defined by Virtual Collocation. You will not sign for, or open, any boxes or delivery intended for Qwest or its vendors.
• Qwest offers parking on a first-come, first-served basis. Qwest is not liable for any damage, theft or personal injury resulting from your parking in its parking facilities.
• Building-related problems for all 14 states can be referred to the Work Environment Center (WEC) at 1-800-201-7033, Option 4.

Access to and Use of Qwest CO Telephones:

• You are required to order your own telephone lines for normal work operation communications. Your personnel are NOT allowed to use Qwest telephone lines except as delineated below. Your telephones must be mounted within your leased space or at a location negotiated with the local CO Manager, where such space is available.
  • Qwest will provide your personnel access to telephone service, provided by Qwest at any Interconnection Distribution Frame (ICDF) locations where your test access may be required. You are to use these lines for circuit testing only and may use them only for a reasonable amount of time for such purpose, releasing the phone lines to other CLECs or Qwest personnel as needed.
  • Your personnel using the frame testing lines are allowed to make local, toll free, calling card or reversed charge calls only.

General Work Activity:

• Your and Qwest standards and guidelines for working within a Qwest CO are defined in the following Qwest Technical Publications. These standards and guidelines apply to both your and Qwest work activities in Qwest CO.
  • Technical Publication, Digital Signal, Level 3 (DS3) Service, 77324
  • Technical Publication, Telecommunication Equipment Installation Guidelines, 77350.
  • Technical Publication, Qwest Engineering Standards General Equipment Requirements, 77351
  • Technical Publication, Grounding - Central Office and Remote Equipment Environment, 77355
  • Technical Publication, 1.544 Mbit/s channel Interfaces, 77375
  • Technical Publication, Power Equipment and Engineering Standards, 77385
  • Technical Publication, Interconnection and Collocation for Transport and Switched Unbundled Network Elements (UNEs) and Finished Services, 77386
  • Technical Publication, Installation Supplier Quality Workmanship Assessment Guidelines, 77369

• Any work activity that has a potential to negatively impact customer service, employee work operations, safety or company investments must be approved in advance and appropriate procedures followed. This includes installation work and power and cabling work, etc., as identified in Technical Publication, Telecommunication Equipment Installation Guidelines, 77350. A completed and signed Method of Procedure (MOP) document is required prior to beginning this activity. You must make arrangements to have the CO Manager (or the manager's designate) approve the MOP before any material delivery or installation begins. Some work activity may have to be performed during established maintenance windows. The MOP document describes the work activities to be performed to ensure service reliability. A separate MOP may be required to turn up power to the Collocation space.
• You and Qwest will work jointly to maintain installation/service quality standards at their equipment termination points. The SICM will report known discrepancies in installation quality, for both you and Qwest work, for resolution.

CO Security:

• You must submit a request for Qwest Access Cards via e-mail for those individuals who need to be authorized to enter a Qwest facility. The requests for Access cards and updates should be directed to ICCbadge@qwest.com. It is your responsibility to renew all Access Badges on an annual basis (prior to their expiration date). Failure to do so will deny access for the cardholder and may require submitting a new request. Contact ICCbadge@qwest.com for renewals.
• All your contractors requiring unescorted access to your physical space must be issued a Qwest Access Card. You assume responsibility for the actions of your contractors while on Qwest property. If at any time your employee or your contractor is observed outside your designated access area or without proper identification, the parties will be asked to vacate the premises, and Qwest Security will be notified.
• Return Access Cards immediately when employees/contractors leave your business or change job responsibilities and no longer require access to Qwest's CO. Badges should be returned to:
  

  Central Access Control Center (CACC) Qwest Communications 700 W. Mineral Rm. K120 Littleton, CO 80120

  - or contact - ICCbadge@qwest.com for mailing instructions

Immediate notification is required if you have information that your employee poses a safety and/or security risk. Your failure to provide such notification may result in denial to Qwest Collocation facilities. Submit the notification to ICCbadge@qwest.com.

• Problems with Access Cards and/or Qwest Card Readers Should be Reported to 1-888-261-9483
• You shall be required to wear a Qwest Access Card or Visitor's Pass visibly above the waist at all times while on the Qwest grounds or in Qwest buildings. If Qwest determines that you were not authorized to have entry into the physical facility, you are subject to trespass, civil and criminal charges. If Qwest determines that an authorized Access Card was used to provide unauthorized entry, Qwest will revoke the access privileges for the individual to whom the card was issued, and such person may be subject to trespass, civil and criminal charges.
• You shall be restricted to corridors, stairways and elevators that provide direct access to your space, designated equipment termination points for test access, or such space as required by an approved business requirement or to the nearest restroom facility from your designated space. You could be subject to removal from the premises and possible criminal charges and/or trespassing charges for repeated offenses. Likewise, Qwest personnel are subject to trespass violations if they are wrongfully inside your Caged Physical Collocation areas or if they wrongfully provide access to unauthorized individuals.
• Registers or logbooks may be maintained in some buildings to record entry and departure. These must be filled out accordingly.

Additional information regarding access to Qwest Premises can be found in the Qwest Premises Access document located in the Implementation section of the Collocation - General Information web page, within collocation supporting documentation.

Unauthorized Persons:

• Report the presence of any unauthorized person(s) to the guard station, local Qwest Management, or Qwest Security at 1-888-879-7328.

Visitor Pass:

• Any Qwest or your authorized employee with a valid and activated Qwest Access Card may serve as an escort to a visitor and may sponsor fellow employees who have forgotten or lost their cards. Visitors only have access to your space and must be escorted at all times while in the Qwest property. You assume responsibility for the actions of your visitors and contractors while on Qwest property.
• Visitors are issued a badge that expires daily. A new one is required each day. These visitor badges may be ordered by calling the Qwest (CACC) 1-888-261-9483, option 2.

Access:

• Access to leased physical space is provided 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, subject to Qwest terms for ensuring safety and security.
• All authorized CLECs will need to notify the Qwest Network Reliability and Operations Center (NROC) when gaining access into a CO after hours (this is due to building security alarms). Normal business hours are assumed to be 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The notification numbers are as follows:
• 1-800-341-8188, press 1, press 4, for Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.
• 1-800-713-3666, press 1, (Any option can be chosen in the next layer because the calls go to one location no matter what the switch technology type is) for Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

Admission and Visitor Control:

• When keys and/or Access Cards are issued for access into buildings, you will be responsible for the return of the keys and/or Access Cards immediately upon Qwest's request for their return because they are the property of Qwest; you are also responsible for surrendering such keys and/or Access cards upon decommissioning of your site. Your failure to return such items may result in your denial to Qwest Collocation facilities.
• If a key and/or Access Card is lost or access is changed as a result of your request, you are responsible for replacement cost up to and including re-keying and/or reprogramming the access code of the building, if required. You are prohibited from duplication of any key issued by Qwest. Any unauthorized use of such key and/or Access Card by your representative subjects you to possible prosecution for criminal trespass.

Security Access to CLEC Cages:

• Qwest requires emergency access to all cages for safety purposes. Combination locks (or combination lock-boxes, with a key inside to unlock a keyed padlock) must be provided by you and attached to each cage to allow the CO Operations organization emergency access into the cage in the event of fire, safety, water hazards, etc. You will provide the combination to Qwest personnel requiring access to the Collocation space.
• Qwest requires that you provide the combination to your cage lock for repair or installation of finished service/administrative lines where the Demarcation Point (DMARC) is located inside the cage. The information is provided at the time the repair or installation work order is requested. Your employees can be on-site to open cage doors in lieu of providing the combination on the work order.
• Your emergency contact must have the combination to the lock on your cage.

Cageless Equipment Collocations:

• A reasonable amount of space around your Cageless Physical Collocation space will be made available for short-term administrative and trouble clearing work. You will be allowed to use this space only for the time necessary to perform a specific work function. In no case will the time extend beyond eight hours.
• Use of the space around your Cageless Physical Collocation would be to use test equipment or correct an immediate problem.
• You will not be allowed to use Qwest records, equipment carts and hand tools or test equipment. You must provide your own test equipment, hand tools and materials.
• You will be allowed to temporarily block equipment aisles during installation and repair operations, but will be required to clean up and open the area between shifts.
• You may place protection on the front and rear of your equipment in Cageless Physical Collocation equipment areas. Technical publication 77350 also allows for temporary protection during installation placing and cabling.
• You can place permanent equipment covers on your equipment as long as such cover does not extend into the equipment aisles and common walk space. Maximum front and rear equipment space, including protective covers, must be included in the Collocation Application and approved prior to installation. Cageless collocated equipment must conform to industry dimension standards for transmission equipment and Qwest equipment line-up limitations.
• You will be allowed temporary access to Alternate Current (AC) outlets to operate test equipment and installation hand tools only. It is expected that these connections would be no longer than a few hours at a time, and they should not be connected for more than one work shift. You may order a separate AC outlet at your Collocation space by indicating your request on your Collocation Application for the site.
• For Cageless equipment Collocations, only during the early stages of installation will you be allowed access to the Qwest Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) ground connections. You will not be allowed to place electrostatic mats in Qwest equipment aisles. Electrostatic plugs with wrist strap connections to a suitable ESD ground source are required.

Qwest Critical Facility Video/Photography Policy

Qwest Critical Facility Video/Photography Policy activities are described in the Qwest Critical Facility Video/Photography Policy.

Contacts

Qwest contact information is available in the Wholesale Customer Contacts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This section is being compiled based on your feedback.

Last Update: January 11, 2008