Ongoing uncertainty has forced many comms providers to defer a decision on the adoption of WLR3. But with delivery of the new service largely back on track, Ash Potter, Co-Chair of FSPA, provides an update and urges CPs to start planning for WLR3 now.

WLR3 continues to be a key issue for CPs. The new product will provide many benefits in operational efficiency leading to both reduced costs and an improved customer experience, as well as delivering a level playing field between communications providers and the downstream divisions of BT with which they compete - BT Retail and BT Global Services.

However, although WLR3 was launched by Openreach at the beginning of 2007, provision of the successor service did not run as smoothly as hoped, and as a consequence of the resulting uncertainty many communications providers shelved immediate plans for adopting the new product. However, following a few false starts, many of the main concerns have since been addressed and there is a clear way forward for delivery of industry's key requirements for the new service.

Figures recently published by Openreach show that six companies (in addition to BT) are now using WLR3 in fully live ‘business as usual' mode. A further 12 companies are currently going through live verification and are expected to move into ‘business as usual' shortly; and there is a growing number of CPs entering and moving through the product establishment process.

"Following a few false starts, many of the main concerns have since been addressed"

This reflects the fact that for many users the main pieces of the jigsaw have now been provided or are being put into place as part of a development programme agreed with industry, although views on exactly when the time is right to sign up will depend on the business model and customer base of the company in question.

ISDN30 was delivered in January and a WLR3-based solution for ISDN2 will be provided as part of release 800 which is on target for delivery at the end of April. The April release will also provide some useful additional PSTN functionality. For example, it will be easier both to retain an existing directory entry on transfer and to restart stopped lines, and there will also be improvements to number port validation.

Further releases are planned for July and October to improve and plug gaps in the available functionality, and we believe that this process will continue to add value as we have noted a greater commitment by Openreach to effective engagement with industry in this area over the last six months.

One major concern, and a key factor in decision making for communications providers last year, was that there was no successor for Call Minder within WLR3. This has now been addressed and following lobbying by industry and in particular by FSPA, BT Wholesale will be delivering a successor product, to be known as Premium Voicemail, which is expected to be part of Release 900 and therefore available from July. This new service will be made available via the Equivalence Management Platform (EMP) which is used for ordering WLR3.

Special directory entries have also been a concern but an active dialogue is now in place between industry and the directories team to ensure that the processes meet industry needs for both WLR2 and WLR3.
So, why act now? Firstly, because all three products (PSTN and ISDN) are now available on the EMP. However, there is also a time issue: Openreach's latest public statement on closure of the WLR2 Service Provider Gateway (SPG) suggests that this will happen some time between July 2009 and July 2010. There are currently 450 companies live on the SPG almost all of whom will need to move to the new platform and there is finite resource available for managing the transition. So communications providers will need to start firming up on their plans to ensure that they secure a migration slot that fits with their business strategies.

Most communications providers will not be in a position to develop an in house solution or even to buy an ‘off the peg' software based solution, and will need to identify a supplier that can provide a bureau or pay-on-use solution. A number of Third Party Integrator (TPI) companies are now offering proven solutions and, as demonstrated by the adoption figures above (most companies now in live mode have collaborated with a TPI to achieve this), these systems are proven and in use.

Communications providers can find a list of TPIs and useful information on how to approach the decision available on the Openreach website. FSPA will continue to cooperate with Openreach to ensure that this information is provided in the most useful and user friendly way to make the planning process as easy as possible for the whole industry.