Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) Requested Unbundled Network Elements (UNE) Construction (CRUNEC) - V13.0
Description
Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) Requested Unbundled Network Elements (UNE) Construction (CRUNEC) provides a method where you may request CenturyLink™ to construct new facilities for utilizing CenturyLink's Unbundled Network Element (UNE) facilities. CRUNEC is not required for requests that can be resolved through facility work or assignments, such as:
- Line and Station Transfers (LSTs): Moving an end-user's line to a spare facility and reusing the pair made spare to provision a service request. An LST is not used in a "reverse cut" fashion; CenturyLink does not swap two working end-user lines to provision a service request.
- Cable Throws (also known as Section Throws or Plant Rearrangements): Moving existing end-users from their existing facilities to another set of facilities in order to free up the original facility for use in the provision of a Company Initiated Activity (CIA) (e.g., to place Digital Loop Carriers or modernize a terminal).
- Incremental Facility Work: Completing facilities to an end-user's premises (e.g., Place a drop, add a Network Interface Device (NID), Central Office (CO) tie pairs, field cross connect jumpers, or card in existing Subscriber Loop Carrier systems at the CO and Remote Terminal).
- Network Modification: When existing facilities do not support requested services, CenturyLink will modify existing Outside Plant Network facilities dedicated to an end-user if CenturyLink would modify such facilities to provide comparable services to it's own retail customer. The "CenturyLink Network Modification Statement" describes how CenturyLink will implement changes to existing Outside Plant dedicated to an end-user. Nothing in this statement shall be construed as modifying CenturyLink's obligations under other regulatory requirements. Network elements will not be modified when it is determined that the requested modification is not consistent with the existing CenturyLink retail processes. Modifications also will not be made that will jeopardize the reliability of CenturyLink's existing network, endanger CenturyLink's employees or consumers, is not consistent with the National Electrical Code (NEC), or does not meet Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS) requirements.
- Outside Plant construction jobs in progress or Engineering Work Orders in progress.
CenturyLink's CRUNEC applies to the following Wholesale products and services:
- Enhanced Extended Loop (EEL)
- Loop MUX Combination (LMC)
- Sub-Loop
- Unbundled Dark Fiber (UDF)
- Unbundled Dedicated Interoffice Transport (UDIT)
- Unbundled Local Loop
For specific information regarding the above products and services refer to the individual Product Catalog (PCAT).
Availability
CRUNEC is available throughout CenturyLink QC within CenturyLink's exchange boundaries limited by various stipulations including, but not limited to governmental or jurisdictional restrictions.
Terms and Conditions
To obtain additional facilities, you must submit a CRUNEC request. Such requests will be evaluated on an Individual Case Basis (ICB). You will be responsible for any construction charges that a CenturyLink retail end-user would be responsible for paying.
Regulations and policies impacting individual products and services are defined within each product and service found in the CenturyLink Wholesale Products and Services web pages.
When you order the same or substantially similar service available to CenturyLink retail end-users, CenturyLink will not charge for CRUNEC where such charges are not provided in the state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists or where such charges would not be applied to a CenturyLink retail end-user.
CenturyLink bills for CRUNEC only when facilities, which would not otherwise be constructed by CenturyLink, are being constructed solely upon your request, or when you request construction involving a timeline that is shorter than defined by CenturyLink.
If at any time during the CRUNEC process you miss the critical timeframes specified, you must restart the process by submitting a new service request for the UNE being ordered.
If, while engineering is preparing the quote (QPF Process), spare facilities or a funded job in progress are found, the CLEC will be eligible for a full refund of the RQPF/CQPF. This may happen as a result of a number of activities including an end users request to disconnect an existing service.
The Service Manager will contact the CLEC to advise and request the CLEC to resubmit a service request as soon as possible. After the service request is resubmitted and the service order is completed, the Service Manager will submit the QPF refund request.
Should the QPF process be stopped by the CLEC at any point in the Quote Preparation process after the CLEC remitted QPF, CenturyLink will refund payment excluding expenditures already incurred for the EF&I of the requested service. A brief description of the work completed will be provided to the CLEC. The refund will be processed through CenturyLink's within 5 business days of receipt of the form from.
Should the CRUNEC process be stopped by the CLEC at any point in the Construction process after the CLEC remitted the Construction payment, CenturyLink will refund payment excluding expenditures already incurred for the EF&I of the requested service. A brief description of the work completed will be provided to the CLEC. The refund will be processed through the CenturyLink.BART billing system within 120 business days.
Technical Publications
Technical characteristics for the product supported by the UNE for which you are requesting CRUNEC are described in the Technical Publications section of the product specific PCAT.
Pricing
Rate Structure
Nonrecurring charges are comprised of the following rate elements:
- Record Quote Preparation Fee (RQPF)
- Construction Quote Preparation Fee (CQPF)
- CRUNEC Quote
The RQPF is a nonrecurring charge assessed for a preliminary review of records only and will provide a high level overview of the cost of construction. This quote will only provide a high level visibility to the cable placement needed as well as the estimated construction cost to place the cable based on ideal field conditions. The estimate provided via RQPF is based on records only and will not be binding. A credit for the cost of the RQPF will be applied towards the CQPF.
The CQPF is a nonrecurring charge assessed prior to preparing the CRUNEC quote. This quote will include both the cable placement needed as well as the construction cost to place that cable based on actual field conditions. A credit for the CQPF will be applied to the cost of construction if you accept the quoted CRUNEC price. A CLEC may choose this option after receipt of an RQPF, or may opt to pay for the CQPF at any time after receiving notification that facilities are not available for your service request.
CenturyLink retains the CQPF if you choose not to proceed with the construction. At any point after remitting the payment for the CRUNEC Quote, you decide to discontinue the construction, CenturyLink will refund your payment, excluding expenditures already incurred for the Engineered, Furnished and Installed (EF&I) of the requested UNE and the CQPF, with a brief description of the work completed. Contact your CenturyLink Service Manager to cancel the construction.
The CRUNEC quote amount to be billed will be determined using the same financial analysis criteria CenturyLink uses to assess whether to build for itself. This includes the cost to recover for EF&I and is determined by a process parallel with that used to price the equivalent CenturyLink retail construction. EF&I is defined as:
- Engineering labor to analyze the needs for the requested UNE and design and issue the required work orders
- Furnished material cost
- Installation labor costs to complete the work order
CenturyLink uses current EF&I cost including, but not limited to material and supplies, engineering, supervision and labor, overhead expenses for construction operations, cost incurred due to unusual conditions, and property owner and governmental requirements (e.g., Rights-of-Way, moratoriums, environmental studies).
Rates
Wholesale rates for this product or service, including tariff references and any applicable discounts, are provided in your current Interconnection, Resale, Commercial, or other governing agreements.
Tariffs, Regulations and Policies
Tariffs, regulations and policies are located in the state specific Tariffs/Catalogs/Price Lists.
When facilities are not available, CenturyLink will build facilities dedicated to an end-user if CenturyLink would be legally obligated to build such facilities to meet its Provider of Last Resort (POLR) obligation to provide basic Local Exchange Service or its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) obligation to provide primary basic Local Exchange Service. In other situations, CenturyLink does not agree that it is obligated to build UNEs, but will consider requests to build UNEs pursuant to your Interconnection Agreement with exceptions that may apply where Commission Orders or State Requirements exist. The CRUNEC process is how CenturyLink implements the requirements outlined in your Interconnection Agreement . Nothing in this PCAT shall be construed as modifying CenturyLink obligations under your Interconnection Agreement.
Network elements will not be built if it is determined that the requested element will jeopardize the reliability of CenturyLink's existing network, endanger CenturyLink's employees or consumers, is not consistent with the National Electrical Code (NEC), or does not meet Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS) requirements. All quotes will be based on CenturyLink's approved facilities, materials and vendors.
If CenturyLink constructs a network element that satisfies the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) description of a UNE, a facility or equipment used in the provision of telecommunications service, that network element shall be deemed a UNE. Once the facility is constructed, CenturyLink retains ownership and responsibility for administration and maintenance of the facility.
Implementation
Prerequisites
To request CRUNEC, you must amend your Interconnection Agreement prior to placing a request for CRUNEC. Information regarding amending your Interconnection Agreement, is located in the Interconnection Agreement.
Ordering
Prior to the ordering of a CRUNEC build, you may initiate a request for a RQPF to determine the feasibility of moving forward with the CRUNEC Process.
When you submit a service request for EEL, LMC, Sub-Loop, Unbundled Local Loop, UDF or UDIT products or services, the process used to determine if facilities are available is equivalent to the process used to determine if assignable facilities exist for CenturyLink retail services.
This includes checking for:
- Spare or partially connected facilities
- Disconnect orders
- LSTs
- Network Modifications (as defined above)
- Outside Plant construction jobs in progress or Engineering Work Orders in progress.
If facilities are not available, your service request will be returned to you with a message indicating facilities are not available and to contact your CenturyLink Service Manager for options.
Prior to initiating CRUNEC you may wish to request a RQPF. The RQPF is based on records only and will not be binding. If you determine to move forward with the CRUNEC process the RQPF fee will be applied toward the CQPF fee.
To receive a RQPF Quote the following steps must be followed:
- Contact your CenturyLink Service Manager to have a RQPF contract sent to you. When requesting the RQPF contract you will need to provide the following information to your CenturyLink Service Manager:
- CLEC name
- Contact name
- Contact telephone number
- Billing address
- Fax number
- Contact email address
- A RQPF contract will be generated by the CenturyLink Billing and Receivable Tracking (BART) system and sent to you. The RQPF contract includes terms and conditions, the RQPF and a Billing Account Number (BAN). To accept the RQPF contract, return the signed RQPF contract and full RQPF payment, within 30 business days. In addition, contact your CenturyLink Service Manager and provide the following information:
- Type and quantity of UNE(s)
- Address of requested UNE(s), city, county, state.
- Common Language Location Identification (CLLI™) code of Serving CO
- CLLI code of End CO
- Brief description of UNE(s) requested
If you do not remit the full RQPF payment along with the original signed contract, a RQPFquote will not be provided.
Within five business days of receiving your signed RQPF contract and full RQPF payment, the RQPF quote will be emailed to you and your CenturyLink Service Manager. The RQPF quote contains a high level overview of the labor and material costs along with a brief description of work. (e.g., place 2,500 feet of cable).
When you choose to initiate CRUNEC, you will need to complete the following process then resubmit your service request. The first step includes the Construction Quote Preparation Fee (CQPF) contract and the second step includes the CRUNEC contract.
The first step requires you to complete the following:
- Contact your CenturyLink Service Manager to have a CQPF contract sent to you. When requesting the CQPF contract you will need to provide the following information to your CenturyLink Service Manager:
- CLEC name
- Contact name
- Contact telephone number
- Billing address
- Fax number
- Contact email address
- A CQPF contract will be generated by the CenturyLink Billing and Receivable Tracking (BART) system and sent to you. The CQPF contract includes terms and conditions, the CQPF and a Billing Account Number (BAN). To accept the CQPF contract, return the signed CQPF contract and full CQPF payment, within 30 business days. In addition, contact your CenturyLink Service Manager and provide the following information:
- Type and quantity of UNE(s)
- Address of requested UNE(s), city, county, state.
- Common Language Location Identification (CLLI™) code of Serving CO
- CLLI code of End CO
- Brief description of UNE(s) requested
If you do not remit the full CQPF payment along with the original signed contract, a CRUNEC quote will not be provided.
Within 20 business days of receiving your signed CQPF contract and full CQPF payment, the CRUNEC quote will be emailed to you and your CenturyLink Service Manager. The CRUNEC quote contains a breakdown of labor and material costs along with a brief description of work (e.g., place 2,500 feet of cable).
The second step requires you to complete the following:
- After reviewing the CRUNEC quote, if you choose to accept the quote, you must contact your CenturyLink Service Manager within the timeframe as defined in your Interconnection Agreement and request a CRUNEC contract to be sent to you. If you do not have a timeframe defined in your Interconnection Agreement you have 90 business days from the day the CRUNEC quote was emailed to you to respond or the CRUNEC quote is invalid. To restart the process, submit a new service request for the UNE being ordered.
- When you receive the CRUNEC contract you have 30 business days to return the signed CRUNEC contract and the full payment identified in the CRUNEC quote or the CRUNEC contract is cancelled. An estimated Ready for Service Date will be provided within five business days after CenturyLink's Engineering is notified the signed CRUNEC contract and full CRUNEC payment was received. Contact your CenturyLink Service Manager if you have questions and be prepared to provide your BAN number found on the CRUNEC contract.
When you accept the CRUNEC quote, you must resubmit your service request and associate it with the CRUNEC by completing the following fields on the Local Service Request (LSR) or Access Service Request (ASR) form:
- In the MANUAL IND field Include a 'Y'
- In REMARKS include the BAN found on your CRUNEC contract
Failure to provide the above information limits CenturyLink's ability to associate your requested UNE with the constructed facility.
The following tables provide additional assistance in determining the activities, timeframes and deliverables required for CRUNEC:
For RQPF
| RQPF Activities | Responsible Party | Timeframes | Required Deliverable |
| Provide Request | CLEC | Not applicable |
|
| RQPF Request | CenturyLink Service Manager | Within three business days after receiving a complete and accurate request |
|
| Delivery of RQPF Contract | CenturyLink BART | Two business days after receiving a complete request |
|
| RQPF Contract Acceptance | CLEC | 30 business days * |
|
| Delivery of RQPF Quote | CenturyLink Engineering | 5 Business Days |
|
| Acceptance of RQPF Quote and Request of CQPF | CLEC | 30 Calendar Days |
|
For CQPF
| CRUNEC Activities | Responsible Party | Timeframes | Required Deliverable |
| Provide Request | CLEC | Not applicable |
|
| CQPF Contract Request | CenturyLink Service Manager | Within three business days after receiving a complete and accurate request |
|
| Delivery of the CQPF Contract | CenturyLink BART | Two business days after receiving a complete request |
|
| CQPF Contract Acceptance | CLEC | 30 business days * |
|
| Delivery of CRUNEC Quote | CenturyLink | 20 business days after CQPF Contract Acceptance. |
|
| CRUNEC Quote Acceptance | CLEC | Interval as defined in your Interconnection Agreement. If not defined, the interval is 90 business days * |
|
| CRUNEC Contract Acceptance | CLEC | 30 business days * |
|
| Resubmit the service request | CLEC | Recommended to resubmit the service request at the same time you return the signed CRUNEC contract and full CRUNEC quote payment. |
|
| Estimated Ready for Service Date | CenturyLink Service Manager | 5 business days after CenturyLink Engineering is notified signed CRUNEC contract and full CRUNEC payment was received. |
|
| Construction | CenturyLink | ICB |
|
* If you do not provide the deliverables identified in the table above in the specified timeframe you must restart the process by submitting a new service request for the UNE being ordered.
For information about delayed service request handling information can be found in the Ordering Overview.
Provisioning and Installation
General provisioning and installation activities are described in the Provisioning and Installation Overview.
Billing
Billing and Receivable Tracking (BART) billing is described in Billing Information - Billing and Receivable Tracking (BART).
Training
Local CenturyLink 101 "Doing Business with CenturyLink"
- This introductory web-based training course is designed to teach the Local CLEC and Local Reseller how to do business with CenturyLink. It will provide a general overview of products and services, CenturyLink billing and support systems, processes for submitting service requests, reports, and web resource access information. Click here to learn more about this course and to register.
View additional CenturyLink courses by clicking on Course Catalog.
Contacts
CenturyLink contact information is located in Wholesale Customer Contacts.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can an estimate of possible construction charges be obtained prior to submitting a CRUNEC request?
No. Estimated pricing will not be available prior to the assessment and payment of the QPF.
2. What happens if a CLEC cancels CRUNEC in the middle of construction being performed?
You are responsible for the already incurred EF&I cost for the work completed. Should you chose to discontinue the CRUNEC work, CenturyLink will refund your payment, excluding expenditures already incurred for the EF&I of the requested service and the QPF, with a brief description of the work completed.
3. Are previous Dark Fiber Initial Record Inquiry (IRI) fees refunded if a CLEC goes through CRUNEC for additional facility placing?
No. You are requesting a separate process as a result of a previous fiber inquiry request field verification not finding facilities.
Last Update: March 30, 2015