Keeping the technological lines of communication open will be half the battle for a Canadian Internet service provider.
Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. has been chosen by London
and Region Global Network (LARGNet) to provide Internet access to its members. The not-for-profit organization’s mandate is to develop a communications network interconnecting affiliates in London, Ont. and the surrounding region. While private and public sector groups are welcome to join, the later (including of the London Regional Cancer Centre, the University of Western Ontario, and the Woodstock General Hospital) make up the majority.
This marks the third time in four years LARGNet has switched ISPs. According to a LARGNet spokesperson the co-operative puts out a request for proposal every year for competition reasons allowing it to pick the best service. A comprehensive service level agreement was also negotiated, according to LARGNet community network facilitator Gary Higgs.
The switch didn’t come without some heavy lifting. LARGNet’s backbone was connected to Primus Canada’s with an OC-3 fibre optical cable.
“”Additional facilities were implemented as a result of the connection to Primus, both from a dark fibre perspective as well as interface perspective on our telecommunications equipment,”” Higgs adds.
Primus Canada Ted Chislett says two of its responsibilities are to separate member traffic with logic circuits to tailor access and provide a window into the network.
“”We provided them with visibility into the network so they can monitor performance, see what’s going on, verify SLAs and things like that,”” Chislett says. “”That’s part of the attractiveness. We we’re able to customize something specifically for their needs.””
SLAs, tools and fibre are only part of the mix needed to hang on to the contract for more than year, according to Chislett.
“”Because there are multiple different stakeholders in LARGnet — they’ve got a number of top-flight organizations that are members — responsiveness and keeping the communications path to them open are key, more so than even with a large company,”” he says. “”Keep them informed and really communicate.””
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