Provisioning TSP

Nine kinds of organizations or entities perform functions related to the Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) Program. Each has a set of responsibilities that help ensure that the overall program works properly.

Overview

A key feature of the TSP Program is that service users can obtain provisioning priority from service vendors for the installation of new NS/EP services. A provisioning priority authorizes the service vendor to take steps to provide the service earlier than the service vendor's normal business procedures would allow. In passing a provisioning priority to a service vendor, a service user may incur costs from that vendor for the expedited TSP provisioning process. The following sections provide information on requesting Emergency and Essential provisioning priorities.

Service users may not request provisioning priority to:

• Compensate for time lost as a result of inadequate advance planning
• Activate service(s) for which required customer premises equipment (e.g., government furnished modems, encryption equipment, or other terminal equipment), customer premises wiring, or network facilities will not be available at the service user's service due date
• Facilitate the normal relocation or rearrangement of existing service(s) (e.g., internal organizational moves) unless required to support the start of a new NS/EP telecommunications service
• Disconnect existing service(s) unless required to support the start of a new NS/EP telecommunications service
• Obtain the U.S. half circuit segment(s) or the U.S. tail (extension) segment(s) of an international telecommunications service(s) for which the foreign half-circuit segment(s) or the foreign tail (extension) segment(s) will not be available at the service user's service due date.

It is the responsibility of each TSP service user to request provisioning priority only when other avenues to obtain the service have been exhausted and invocation is the only means to obtain the service within the time required.

Joint Field Office Coordination

When the President declares a specific area a "Federal disaster area," the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will establish a Joint Field Office (JFO) in that location to coordinate disaster relief efforts. In these instances, TSP service users may be directed by the TSP Program Office to submit their provisioning requests directly to the JFO. The JFO will coordinate all provisioning activities with the TSP Program Office, the service users, and the service vendors to ensure that all concerned parties clearly understand the requirements and priorities.

Requesting an Emergency Provisioning Priority

A service user may request an Emergency (E) priority to provision a new service which is required immediately. To receive an Emergency provisioning priority, the need for a service has to be so critical that it must be available as soon as possible, without regard to the cost to the service user. Note that all non-Federal provisioning requests will be sponsored by the NCS. To request an Emergency provisioning priority:

1. The service user should first contact a service vendor to determine whether the service vendor can respond to the requirement without requesting an Emergency provisioning. (The user is responsible for ensuring that all other avenues for obtaining service have been exhausted before resorting to TSP procedures.) Taking this action ensures two items: (1) it avoids using an Emergency provisioning if the service vendor can satisfy the requirement using standard procedures; (2) it alerts the service vendor to the fact that the emergency exists and that the service will be required in the immediate future.
2. A service user should also determine whether the service supports an Emergency NS/EP function. A service that supports an Emergency NS/EP function meets one or more of the following criteria:
• Federal Government activity to a Presidentially declared disaster or emergency as defined in the Disaster Relief Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5122)
• State or local government activity responding to a Presidentially declared disaster or emergency
• Response to a state of crisis declared by the National Command Authorities (e.g., exercise of Presidential war emergency powers under Section 706 of the Communications Act, supra)
• Efforts to protect endangered U.S. personnel or property
• Response to an enemy or terrorist action, civil disturbance, natural disaster, or any unpredictable occurrence that has damaged facilities whose uninterrupted operations is critical to NS/EP or the management of other ongoing crises
• Certification by the head or director of a Federal agency, commander of a unified/specified command, chief of a military service, or commander of a major military command, that the telecommunications service is so critical to the protection of life and property or to NS/EP that it must be provided immediately
• A request from an official authorized pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (50 U.S.C. Section 1801 et. seq. and 18 U.S.C. Section 2511, 2518, 2519).
3. If the service vendor informs the user that the it will be impossible to provision the service by the required date using normal business procedures, the service user should contact their invocation official (or the TSP Program Office for a list of invocation officials) and state the criticality of the service provisioning requirement and the circumstances that require the provisioning.
4. If the invocation official agrees to authorize the Emergency provisioning, the service user should initially contact the TSP Program Office via telephone to request an Emergency provisioning priority. If necessary, the TSP Program Office can issue a TSP Authorization Code via the telephone at (703) 235-5650. The user must convey verbally to the TSP Program Office all of the provisioning information required on the Service Request for Users Form 315 (SF 315). The TSP Program Office is available to receive these requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The TSP Program Office verifies both the requirement and that the name of the invocation official is on file at the TSP Program Office. The TSP Program Office then assigns the provisioning priority and provides a TSP Authorization Code to the service user. The service user must follow the verbal provisioning with a completed SF 315 form by close of business on the next business day.
5. After receiving the TSP Authorization Code (which includes the Emergency provisioning priority), the service user includes it on a service order to the service vendor. The TSP Authorization Code is the service vendor's legal authority to provide preferential treatment. During certain emergencies, a service user may convey TSP assignments verbally to a service vendor. In these cases, the service user must submit a written service order to the vendor by the close of business the next business day. After receiving the TSP assignment, the service vendor must provision the TSP service as soon as possible.

Service vendors do not have to accept Emergency provisioning without the accompanying TSP Authorization Code unless the service user or the service user's contracting activity asserts they are unable to communicate with either the TSP Program Office or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). (When contacting the FCC, users should call the FCC Watch Office and ask for the TSP point of contact. The TSP Authorization Code is the service vendor's legal authority to provide the Emergency TSP service preferential treatment. The service vendor may choose to contact the TSP Program Office if there are any questions regarding the TSP assignment. The service vendor may not, however, delay service request processing for verification purposes.

Requesting an Essential Provisioning Priority

An Essential provisioning priority satisfies a requirement for a new NS/EP service that is necessary by a specific deadline which the service vendor cannot meet using normal business procedures. Essential services may receive provisioning priority levels 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Note that the NCS will sponsor all non-Federal provisioning requests. The following steps outline how to request an Essential priority:

1. A service user should first contact a service vendor to determine if the service vendor can provide the telecommunications service without TSP. (The user is responsible for exhausting all other avenues for obtaining service before resorting to TSP procedures.)
2. If the service vendor informs the user that it will be impossible to provision the service by the required date using normal business procedures, the service user should contact their invocation official (or the TSP Program Office for a list of invocation officials) and state the criticality of the service provisioning requirement and the circumstances that require the provisioning.
3. If the invocation official agrees to authorize the Essential provisioning, the service user should initially contact the TSP Program Office via telephone at (703) 235-5650 to request an Essential provisioning priority. If needed, the TSP Program Office can issue a TSP Authorization Code via the telephone. The user must convey verbally to the TSP Program Office all of the provisioning information required on the Service Request for Users Form 315 (SF 315). The TSP Program Office is available to receive these requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The TSP Program Office verifies both the requirement and that the name of the invocation official is on file at the TSP Program Office. The TSP Program Office then assigns the provisioning priority and provides a TSP Authorization Code to the service user. The service user must follow the verbal provisioning with a completed SF 315 form by close of business on the next business day.
4. After receiving the TSP Authorization Code, the service user includes it on a service order to the service vendor. The TSP Authorization Code is the service vendor's legal authority to provide preferential treatment. The service vendor then must make its best effort to provide the Essential TSP service by the requested due date. The service vendor may charge authorized costs to the service user for the faster-than-normal provisioning service.

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