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Cost Files

CUSTRATE (custrate=filename)

Description: Customized Tariff File

The custrate file is used to define tariff rates for links that cannot be priced out using the tariff database.

For any link, the rate depends on the service used and the class of the nodes of the link's endpoints. The service field denotes a trunk type like OC3 or T3. The fields class1 and class2 are logical groupings of nodes. These classes are defined by adding a CLASS=classname in the miscellaneous field of the muxloc file.

The pricing method used is the band method. For a given link, the non-recurring charge is NRC and the recurring charge depends on the mileage band it falls under.

Following the first four fields are a set of three numbers representing the first mileage band. Subsequent triplets represent subsequent mileage bands. The field tomile indicates the end of the mileage band.

The recurring charge is determined using a fixed rate plus a rate per incremental distance. That is:

Recurring charge = fixed_rate+(rate_per_inc_dist/inc_dist)*link_airline_distance

Example: Suppose we have a 200 mile T3 link between a node in class CA and a node in class CB. Using the custrate file specified above, the link would fall within the second mileage band. The non-recurring charge would be 1000. The recurring charge would be 1000+(20/0.1)*200=41000.

USERCOST (usercost=filename)

The usercost file is used to define the cost for links according to the end nodes, vendor, and trunk type. The format of the usercost file is as following:

The from and to fields should specify a node ID, node name, or site name. If a site name is entered, the assignment applies to all locations in that site. You should ensure that site names are different from node names in order to prevent pricing inconsistencies.

If more than one vendor is assigned to the same type for the same node pair, then the least cost vendor is treated as the default vendor. In the example above, the default vendor for a FT56K link between N01 and N02 is WTG. If ATT is selected as the vendor for a FT56K between N01 and N02, the cost of that link is calculated as $300.

If site names are specified in the from/to fields, then the price and default vendor assignments apply to all the locations in the site specified. The default intra-site cost is 0.

USERCOUNTRYCOST (usercountrycost=filename)

The only difference is that the from and to fields are replaced by two-letter country codes rather than node Ids.