International telecommunications routes Settl
Post# of 17653
Posted On: 12/30/2014 1:25:23 AM
International telecommunications routes
Settlement routes
Before the telecoms industry deregulation that started in the 1980s, most telephone companies were owned or regulated by their governments: even countries with many domestic phone companies usually had a regulated international carrier. These carriers used settlement routes to handle traffic between them.
For example, BT and the Australian carrier Telstra send each other traffic over a satellite link or by submarine communications cable. Telstra terminate calls to Australians from British callers, while BT terminate calls in the UK from Australians. At the end of the year Telstra and BT add up the traffic, measured in minutes, they have sent each other and settle net : if BT had sent more minutes to Telstra than vice-versa, BT would pay at the settlement rate for the excess minutes. Settlement rates can be in the range of $0.10 - $2 per minute, depending on the countries involved. If the traffic balanced, neither company pays the other anything.
The amount of money involved in the settlement rate system is considerable. In 2003, American telephone companies made payments of three billion dollars to telephone companies and governments across the world.
The settlement route arrangement is also known as the accounting rate system. The accounting rate is the sum of the two settlement rates. The collection rate is what the subscriber pays.
Wholesale market
Telecoms carriers can obtain traffic to make up a shortfall, or send traffic on other routes, by trading with other carriers in the wholesale or carrier-to-carrier market. A carrier needs a point of presence where they can interconnect with other carriers, usually in a carrier hotel such as 60 Hudson Street in New York or Telehouse in London by using a fiber ring to link their switches. This is an easy way of doing business, but it does mean that the other carriers in the market have partial visibility of what each other is doing.
Minutes exchanges allow carriers to buy and sell termination anonymously at a contracted price and quality. The anonymity is important, as minutes exchanges are used daily by PTT's and Tier One carriers to manage their commitment deals.
Prices in the wholesale market are far lower than consumer prices but can and do change on a daily or weekly basis. A carrier will have a least cost routing function to manage its trading on the wholesale market. The quality of routes in the wholesale market can also vary, as the traffic may be going on a grey route.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_te...ons_routes
....end of year could make for a skewed view on Q reports
Settlement routes
Before the telecoms industry deregulation that started in the 1980s, most telephone companies were owned or regulated by their governments: even countries with many domestic phone companies usually had a regulated international carrier. These carriers used settlement routes to handle traffic between them.
For example, BT and the Australian carrier Telstra send each other traffic over a satellite link or by submarine communications cable. Telstra terminate calls to Australians from British callers, while BT terminate calls in the UK from Australians. At the end of the year Telstra and BT add up the traffic, measured in minutes, they have sent each other and settle net : if BT had sent more minutes to Telstra than vice-versa, BT would pay at the settlement rate for the excess minutes. Settlement rates can be in the range of $0.10 - $2 per minute, depending on the countries involved. If the traffic balanced, neither company pays the other anything.
The amount of money involved in the settlement rate system is considerable. In 2003, American telephone companies made payments of three billion dollars to telephone companies and governments across the world.
The settlement route arrangement is also known as the accounting rate system. The accounting rate is the sum of the two settlement rates. The collection rate is what the subscriber pays.
Wholesale market
Telecoms carriers can obtain traffic to make up a shortfall, or send traffic on other routes, by trading with other carriers in the wholesale or carrier-to-carrier market. A carrier needs a point of presence where they can interconnect with other carriers, usually in a carrier hotel such as 60 Hudson Street in New York or Telehouse in London by using a fiber ring to link their switches. This is an easy way of doing business, but it does mean that the other carriers in the market have partial visibility of what each other is doing.
Minutes exchanges allow carriers to buy and sell termination anonymously at a contracted price and quality. The anonymity is important, as minutes exchanges are used daily by PTT's and Tier One carriers to manage their commitment deals.
Prices in the wholesale market are far lower than consumer prices but can and do change on a daily or weekly basis. A carrier will have a least cost routing function to manage its trading on the wholesale market. The quality of routes in the wholesale market can also vary, as the traffic may be going on a grey route.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_te...ons_routes
....end of year could make for a skewed view on Q reports
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