The NEXRAD Communication Service (NCS) contract with Sprint is being transitioned to FTS2001 services provided by Sprint. The transition will begin the first week of March, 2003. Nearly all National Weather Service (NWS) and U.S. Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) NCS leased line (private line) and dial (VPN) telecommunications for CONUS and San Juan NEXRAD systems, NWS AWIPS and NWS legacy PUPs, and AFWA OPUPs and legacy PUPs, will be transitioned to FTS2001 Sprint service.

The transition to FTS2001 is expected to be seamless and will be carefully monitored by the WSR-88D Hotline and AWIPS Network Control Facility (NCF). THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES TO DIAL OR DEDICATED CIRCUITS OR CIRCUIT IDs! The only circuit changes will be in the form of accounting codes used for billing purposes.

The only change in the support arena is that the Sprint Service Management Center (SMC) trouble reporting desk "1-800" number will change. As soon as circuits are migrated to FTS2001, trouble reporting should be made to the Sprint FTS2001 SMC at 1-877-387-3667.

The time line and activities associated with the transition follow:

● 02/26/03 - 02/27/03 - RPG dial-in and NWS and AFWA dial-out service should be tested in order to verify pre-existing (pre-migration) functionality.

Pre-migration dial line functionality will be tested as follows:

The WSR-88D Hotline - will perform a complete sweep of all Sprint RPG dial service using Hotline developed tools. Tickets will be opened on any problems encountered.

The AWIPS NCF will remotely test NWS WFO, RFC, and National Centers AWIPS dial-out functionality. The NCF will document any problems found and work AWIPS-specific problems with the respective field site POCs. Any Sprint issues encountered will be coordinated with the WSR-88D Hotline in order to minimize any potential overlapping restoration activities with Sprint.

AF Base Weather Stations (BWS) and OWS locations, as well as a few NWS locations that still retain a separate dial-out line on the legacy PUP, will need to test their PUP/OPUP dial out functionality ON OR BEFORE 02/26/03. These locations should report to the Hotline only those problems which that cannot be resolved locally prior to the start of the migration.

Attempts will be made to resolve all pre-migration dial problems in advance of the VPN transition. However, if service issues remain unresolved at the scheduled start of the transition the migration will proceed as noted below and the issue will have to be resolved after the migration is completed.

● 02/28/03 - Sprint will start processing their software changes in preparation for the start of the transition. No circuits will be touched at this phase.

● 03/02/03 approx. 0600 EST - the migration of the private lines will commence.

Sprint indicates that the migration of the private lines (dedicated/leased lines) will be seamless. The only thing being changed is essentially the coding for the account billing - changing to FTS2001. All the DoD RPG to NWS AWIPS, DoD Distant MSCF circuits to NWS WFO’s, and many AFWA PUP and NWS AWIPS dedicated lines will be migrated at this time. Field sites, the WSR-88D Hotline, and AWIPS NCF, will be asked to maintain a heightened watch on all Sprint private line service from 03/02 to 03/04 and to report anomalies to the WSR-88D Hotline.

● 03/03/03 0800 CST - The VPN (dial line) transition ensues. A team of Sprint network management specialists, WSR-88D Hotline Field Support specialists, and possibly a representative from the AWIPS NCF, will participate in a conference call throughout the day. Sprint will start systematically migrating VPN service on network switches according to an agreed upon sequence that ensures the fewest number of VPNs are initially transitioned. If problems are encountered, Sprint will back out of the migration and resolve the problem before proceeding. By the end of the process switches will be transitioned that support up to nine RPGs, as well as the dial-out service at locations in the same geographic area, like the AFWA BWS and OWS locations.

An agreement has been made with Sprint that will allow for switches serving areas threatened by severe weather to be migrated later in the sequence.

As Sprint transitions the RPG VPN circuits on each switch, the Hotline will test the respective RPG VPN service and verify that it was successfully migrated. If the transition was successful, the team will proceed to the next switch. In parallel to the RPG VPN testing, the Hotline will also make spot check phone calls to AFWA field sites and ask that they test their post-migration dial-out capability. Similarly, the AWIPS NCF will verify AWIPS dial-out functionality at the locations whose service has also been transitioned.

Sprint indicates that there will be no “cross-service” compatibility problems, meaning existing Sprint VPNs should be able to dial new FTS2001 service and vice versa. The Hotline will test cross-service compatibility as soon as the migration begins.

This process will continue until all VPN service is migrated.

● 03/04/03 0800 CST - If the VPN migration is not complete, the process will continue until all service is migrated in the same manner as previously described.

● 03/05/03 - 03/07/03 - All offices are encouraged to test their dial-out capabilities to ensure no residual problems have surfaced.