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Service-Level Agreement

service-agreement

This document outlines the Service Level Agreement (“SLA”) for fiber-based & licensed Microwave/Millimeter Wave Ethernet Service and Cloud Connect Service (individually, “Service” and collectively “Services”) by Aspen Smart Networks (ASPEN). This SLA is a part of, and hereby incorporated by reference into the Aspen Smart Networks Service Proposal (including the terms and conditions, attachments, and Service Orders described therein, the “Agreement”). To the extent any provision of this SLA conflicts with the Agreement, this SLA shall control. Performance tier goals (“SLA Targets”) are set forth in the table(s) below. 

Ethernet Services SLA Targets presented below are measured end to end between any two applicable Customer’s edge devices at the Service Location at the individual circuit or service level, and any applicable credits are issued for the affected circuit or service (the “Affected Service”). 

Aspen’s Cloud Connected Services (i.e - Virtual SmartZone, NMS, and Ticketing Systems) SLA Target for Availability is measured between Aspen’s Customer Premise Equipment located at the Customer location and the Network interface of the Aspen Cloud Service.

Aspen Ethernet Services SLAs

Performance Tier Off-Net On-Net

Latency

< 10ms

< 125ms

Jitter

< 2ms

< 8ms

Packet Loss

< 0.1%

< 0.1%

Availability

99.95%

99.95%

MTTR

4 hrs

4 hrs

1 “On-Net” includes circuits provided by Aspen to Service Locations directly from the Aspen Network. 

2 “Off-Net” includes circuits that are provided to geographic locations that are outside the Aspen service areas and are provided by third-party service providers.

Aspen Cloud Service SLAs

Availability > 99.99%

Priority Classification

“Excluded Disruptions” means (i) planned outages, (ii) routine or urgent maintenance, (iii) time when ASPEN is unable to gain access to the Customer’s premises to troubleshoot, repair or replace equipment or the Service, (iv) service problems resulting from acts of omissions of Customer or Customer’s representatives or agents, (v) Customer equipment failures, (vi) Customer is not prepared to release the Service for testing, and (vii) Force Majeure Events. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Agreement, any service issues beyond the connectivity to the Cloud Service Provider is not covered by this SLA.

A “Service Disruption” is defined as an outage, disruption, or severe degradation, other than an Excluded Disruption, that interferes with the ability of an ASPEN network hub to transmit and receive network traffic between Customer’s A and Z Service Locations. The Service Disruption period begins when the Customer reports a Service Disruption using ASPEN’s trouble ticketing system by contacting Customer Care, ASPEN acknowledges receipt of such trouble ticket, ASPEN validates that the Service is affected, and the Customer releases the Service for testing. The Service Disruption ends when the affected Service has been restored. 

“Service Degradation” means a degradation of the Service that is not a Service Disruption or a result of an Excluded Disruption, such as failure of the Service to achieve the SLA Targets for Latency / Frame Delay, Jitter / Frame Delay Variation, or Packet / Frame.

ASPEN will classify Service problems as follows:

Priority Criteria

Priority 1

  • Service Disruption resulting in a total loss of Service; or 
  • Service Degradation to the point where the Customer is unable to use the Service and is prepared to release it for immediate testing (each a “Priority 1 Outage”).
Priority 2
  • Service Degradation where the Customer is able to use the Service and is not prepared to release it for immediate testing.
Priority 3
  • A service problem that does not impact the Service; or
  • A single non-circuit-specific quality of Service inquiry.

Service Availability

“Service Availability” is calculated as the total number of minutes in a calendar month less the number of minutes that the Service is unavailable due to a Priority 1 Outage (“Downtime”), divided by the total number of minutes in a calendar month. 

The following table contains examples of the percentage of Service Availability translated into minutes of Downtime for the 99.99% Service Availability Target:

Percentage by Days / Month Total Minutes / Month Downtime Minutes

99.95% for 30 Days

43,200

21m 55s

Mean Time to Restore “MTTR”

The MTTR measurement for Priority 1 Outages is the average time to restore Priority 1 Outages during a calendar month calculated as the cumulative length of time it takes ASPEN to restore a Service following a Priority 1 Outage in a calendar month divided by the corresponding number of trouble tickets for Priority 1 Outages opened during the calendar month for the Service. 

MTTR per calendar month is calculated as follows:

Latency / Frame Delay

Latency or Frame Delay is the average roundtrip network delay, measured every 5 minutes during a calendar month, unless the measurement is not possible as a result of an Excluded Disruption, to adequately determine a consistent average monthly performance level for frame delay for each Service. The roundtrip delay is expressed in milliseconds. 

Latency / Frame Delay is calculated as follows:

Sum of Frame Delay Variation Measurements for a Service Total # of measurements for a Service

Packet Loss

Packet Loss is defined as the percentage of packets that are not successfully received compared to the total packets that are sent in a calendar month, except where any packet loss is the result of an Excluded Disruption. The percentage calculation is based on packets that are transmitted from a network origination point and received at a network destination point. 

Packet Loss Ratio is calculated as follows:

Packet Loss (%) = 100 (%) – Packets Received

Jitter / Frame Delay Variation

Jitter or Frame Delay Variation is defined as the variation in delay for two consecutive frames that are transmitted (one-way) from a network origination point and received at a network destination point. ASPEN measures a sample set of frames every 5 minutes during a calendar month, unless the measurement is not possible as a result of an Excluded Disruption, and determines the average delay between consecutive frames within each sample set. The monthly Jitter / Frame Delay Variation is calculated as the average of all of the frame delay variation measurements during a such calendar month and is expressed in milliseconds (ms).

Jitter / Frame Delay Variation =

Total # of measurements for a Service

Sum of the Frame Delay Variation measurements for a Service

Network Maintenance

Maintenance Notice: The customer understands that from time to time, ASPEN will perform network maintenance for network improvements and preventive maintenance. In some cases, ASPEN will need to perform urgent network maintenance, which will usually be conducted within the routine maintenance windows. ASPEN will use reasonable efforts to provide advance notice of the approximate time, duration, and reason for any urgent maintenance outside of the routine maintenance windows.

Maintenance Windows: Routine maintenance may be performed Monday – Friday 12 a.m. – 6 a.m. Local Time.

 

Remedies Service Credit

If the actual performance of a Service during any calendar month is less than the SLA Targets, and the Customer is in compliance with the terms of the Agreement and this SLA, then the Customer may request a credit equal to the corresponding percentage of the monthly recurring charges for the Affected Service as set forth in the table below. Any credit to be applied will be offset against any amounts due from the Customer to ASPEN in the billing cycle following the date ASPEN makes its credit determination. Credit requests must be submitted to ASPEN within thirty (30) days of the calendar month in which the SLA Target was missed. ASPEN will exercise commercially reasonable efforts to respond to such credit requests within 30 days of receipt thereof.

Service Availability Mean Time To Restore (“MTTR”) Latency / Frame Delay (Roundtrip) Jitter / Frame Delay Variation Packet Loss / Frame Loss

30%

> 4 hours ≤ 7:59:59 hours

4%

5%

5%

> 8 hours

10%

All SLA Targets are monthly measurements, and the Customer may request only one credit per SLA Target per month for the Affected Service. Should one event impact more than one SLA hereunder, the Customer shall receive the single highest of the qualifying credits only. Except as set forth below, the credits described in this SLA shall constitute the Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy, and ASPEN’s sole and exclusive liability, with respect to any missed SLA Targets. Service Credits hereunder shall not be cumulative per Service. 

 

Chronic Priority 1 Outages: If Customer experiences and reports four (4) separate Priority 1 Outages where the Downtime exceeds four (4) hours during each Priority 1 Outage within four (4) consecutive calendar months, then Customer may terminate the Affected Service without charge or liability by providing at least forty five (45) days written notice to ASPEN; provided, however, that (i) Customer may only terminate the Affected Service; (ii) Customer must exercise its right to terminate the Affected Service by providing written notice to ASPEN within forty five (45) days after the event giving rise to Customer’s termination right; (iii) Customer shall have paid ASPEN all amounts due at the time of such termination for all Services provided by ASPEN pursuant to the Agreement, and (iv) the foregoing termination right provides the sole and exclusive remedy of Customer and the sole and exclusive liability of ASPEN for chronic Priority 1 Outages and Customer shall not be eligible for any additional credits. Termination will be effective sixty (60) days after ASPEN’s receipt of such written notice of termination. 

 

Fiber Service Performance: Aspen Smart Networks guarantees Fiber performance above all other service offerings. Our fiber offerings are guaranteed to be within 10% of the service speed offering, however other factors may affect the performance of the circuit. Our speeds are measured to the Aspen Smart Networks CPE, and we do not guarantee performance behind the Customer's equipment. Aspen Smart Networks always installs CPE equipment capable of serving the speeds offered. In the case Customer experiences speed less than offered, Aspen Smart Networks offers LAN consultation services, these are separate from circuit offerings and are only available under a managed services contract. Please contact sales@aspenwireless.net if you are interested in a free quote. 


Wireless Service Performance: Aspen Smart Networks purposefully engineers all wireless point-to-point links for stability and reliability and holds them to the same SLA as our Fiber Service. Our speed offerings are estimations of the speed that you will get at your premise, however, the overall performance of the link may be affected by things such as poor signal-to-noise-ratio ratio(SNR), foliage, onsite power fluctuations, inclement weather, wireless backhaul links installed by other carriers, changes in regulations or requirements by the FCC, etc. Aspen Smart Networks always installs wireless equipment capable of meeting or exceeding the speeds offered in real-world environments but does not guarantee this performance. In the case the Customer experiences speeds less than offered, there may be other equipment options available that may remedy the problem. Such options are considered upgrades and are sold at the going rate and installation fees may apply.