RIPE NCC TTM Service Fee Proposal
Henk Uijterwaal (RIPE-NCC) henk at ripe.net
Tue May 15 14:43:43 CEST 2001
Dear Test-Box hosts, Please read this mail carefully, as it contains important information about the way the Test Traffic Measurement Service is operated by the RIPE NCC. If you are "only" the technical contact for the Test- Box(es) at your site, please pass this mail on to appropriate person. Comments, questions, flames and general abuse to the tt-wg at ripe.net list in the next 2 weeks please. Kind regards, Henk ============================================================================ RIPE NCC TTM Service Fee Proposal --------------------------------- This mail is a follow-up to the discussion on this topic at various RIPE meetings over the last year. As you probably remember, the RIPE NCC membership agreed in October 2000 that the RIPE NCC should start to charge the costs for operating the test-boxes to the sites hosting them. However, it later became unclear if charging a service fee was possible under the present tax status of the RIPE NCC. We meanwhile have discussed this with the Dutch tax authorities and the outcome of this discussion is: * BTW (or Dutch VAT) will have to be paid on any new TB-hardware, the exact rates depend on the location and legal status of the customer. This does not affect the RIPE NCC tax status. * VpB (aka CIT or "Corporate Tax"): Provided that the RIPE NCC includes TTM in a clearing house system, the potential results from TTM will not be charged and the RIPE NCC can charge a service fee for test-box operations. Again, this does not affect the RIPE NCC tax status. This means that the RIPE NCC can start to charge the service fee for the Test-box operations as planned. Last month, we checked the numbers for the operational costs for the test-boxes in 2001. Our conservative (high) estimate was around Euro 370,000 in 2001. Assuming an average of 100 boxes in 2001, this results in the following service fees: - 3000 Euro/year - 1500 Euro/year: The 2nd through 9th box operated by the same legal entity, even if they are at different PoP's. - 0 Euro/year: The 10th and further boxes The service fee will be pro-rated for sites joining later in the year. These service fees are first guess based on a conservative estimate. After the first year, the numbers for the operational costs will be revised and adjusted. If the service fee was too high, then any profit will be returned to you using a clearing house construction. This is the same model as used for the LIR-service, however, TTM and LIR operations will be financially completely independent. Starting date ------------- At RIPE39, we proposed to start charging on JULY 1, 2001. There were no objections against this, however, as not all current TB hosts were represented in that meeting, we decided to take this point to the mailing list. This email is therefor your chance to comment on this date. No budget? ---------- We are aware that a number of the first generation test-boxes (numbers tt01 through tt47) are hosted by sites interested in network research or similar activities. These sites often have no or a limited budget for test-box operations. However, they are essential for creating a world-wide network of test-boxes and the RIPE NCC does not want to lose any of those test-box hosts. For these sites, we have some possibilities to lower or drop the service fee. If you think that your site qualifies for this, please send me a short email explaining why and we can discuss things from there. Implementation details: Test-boxes tt01 - tt47 ---------------------------------------------- As announced before, the sites hosting one of these boxes will get the hardware that is currently installed at their site for free, as is. There will be no warrantee on these test-boxes. Also, no service fee will be charged for the first 6 months of 2001, so for the remainder of 2001 one pays 1500 Euro for the first test-box, 750 for the next ones. In order to establish a formal business relation with your site, it will be necessary to sign a service contract. The text of this contract can be found in RIPE document 214, available from the RIPE document store at: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-214.html To generate a customized version of this contract, go to http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/mem-services/ttm/Host_testbox/ and fill out the form. In section 1.2, check the "no" box, in section 1.6, select the "0 Euro/no hardware" and the "0 Euro/Test-box already installed" options. After you have filled out the form, press "check", then press "order a test-box" on the next page. This will generate the necessary documents. Please print 2 copies, sign them and send them to the RIPE NCC. We will sign them as well and return one copy to you, together with an invoice for the service fee. There is no deadline for this, but the sooner we have the contracts in place, the better that is for us. However, we fully understand that you may need time to discuss this with your manager before signing. Test-boxes tt48 and higher -------------------------- No service fee will be charged for the first 6 months of 2001. You will receive an invoice for the remainder of 2001, for half the yearly fee. No action from your site is required at the moment. Questions, Comments ------------------- Please send questions and comments on this email to the tt-wg at ripe.net list. Note that you have to be subscribed to this list before your mail is accepted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Henk Uijterwaal Email: henk.uijterwaal at ripe.net RIPE Network Coordination Centre WWW: http://www.ripe.net/home/henk Singel 258 Phone: +31.20.5354414 1016 AB Amsterdam Fax: +31.20.5354445 The Netherlands Mobile: +31.6.55861746 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As long as you don't tell your friends how I played the hand, then I won't tell my friends how you defended it. (Anonymous)
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