DZS GPON – CAF II Bandwidth & Latency Testing for FCC Ruling DA-18-710A1

The Test Module add-on for CONNECT-ACS – in compliance with FCC Mandated Testing for All High-Cost, Subsidy Recipients – part of DZS-CONNECTION Software Suite, has been designed to meet the FCC testing requirements as outlined in FCC Ruling DA-18-710A1. This CONNECT ACS Module is capable of CAF II Bandwidth & Latency Testing in accordance to DA-18-710A1.

Who is affected: FCC Requirements from FCC document DA-18-710A1:

“Certain recipients of Connect America Fund (CAF) high-cost universal service support, including price cap carriers, rate-of-return carriers, rural broadband experiment (RBE) support recipients, Alaska Plan carriers, and CAF Phase II auction winners.”

Introduction and Clarification from FCC document DA-18-710A1:

All carriers which receive government subsidy to provide broadband in “high-cost” areas, must perform the tests. Basically, that is almost every tier 2 and tier 3 carrier in the USA.

A  glossary of terms provided by the Universal Service Administrative Company (the glossary), heretofore referred to as USAC, can be downloaded from the web. The glossary and other documents can be accessed at www.usac.org.  All acronyms are defined within the glossary.

In Accordance to FCC Requirements: CAF II Bandwidth & Latency Testing from FCC Document DA-18-710A1:

Subsidies were determined to be allocated along four separate performance tiers and by two separate latency tiers with funding preference given to providers offering faster speeds, lower latency, and larger data usage allowances.

DZS CONNECTION Suite

• CONNECT-ACS – An ultra-modern and open auto configuration server based on the Broadband Forum technical specification TR-069 standard
• CONNECT-DA – Supports cloud based analytics This analytic engine runs in the cloud and its main goal is to aid with trend analysis by mining data gathered from the network
• CONNECT-API – An open RESTful API for customization and quick resolution of future issues.

FCC Requirements from FCC document DA-18-710A1 – Key Points: 

• USAC is the administrative arm and USAC determines the locations to be tested, not the carriers.
• Latency test must be conducted once per minute, for 6 hours, starting at 6 PM and ending at midnight, for 7 days each quarter.
• Download throughput test must be conducted once per hour, for 6 hours, starting at 6 PM and ending at midnight.
• Upload throughput test must be conducted once per hour, for 6 hours, starting at 6 PM and ending at midnight.
• All tests must have the packets terminate/originate at the closest of the 16 named IXPs or pass through them.
• All tests need not be performed on the same night. Latency testing can be week one, Download testing on another week and Upload testing on yet another week. All testing must be completed within the quarter.

FCC Requirements – What is it?

Speed and Latency testing of subsidized areas:

• Speed tests every hour – both upload and download
• Latency tests every minute
• Between 6pm and midnight for 7 consecutive days
• One week per quarter/per tier
• Number of customers tested per tier/per state:
  • 5 at a minimum
  • 10% of tier
  • 50 at a maximum
• Results of Speed test ≥ 80% of results ≥ 80% of speed tier
• Results of Latency test ≥95% of results less than 100ms