TPOC 2006 Annual Report

Telecommunications Planning and Oversight Council
November 1, 2006

Highlights of the Year

The following are highlights from fiscal 2006.

Consolidation of Health and Human Services Wide Area Network

Transfer of the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Wide Area Network (WAN) operations to DIR has afforded the opportunity to leverage the infrastructure and customer base to develop a shared services network model that can be utilized by agencies throughout the state.

Migration to IP-Based Infrastructure

The HHSC WAN is migrating from an older legacy technology platform to a more robust and resilient IP-based platform utilizing Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) that delivers Quality of Service (QoS) for data, voice, and video transport. This new platform provides IP Services Gateways (ISG) in 18 locations across the state, including all Local Access Transport Areas (LATA). In addition to serving HHSC agencies, DIR is working to partner with other interested agencies to further leverage value from this network solution.

Statewide VOIP Solution

At the request of HHSC, the management and operation of the statewide VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) platform for the 2-1-1 Information and Referral program was transferred to DIR. This platform has been expanded to support the new statewide call center for HHSC’s Integrated Eligibility and Enrollment (IEE) program. The design for this new expanded system enables DIR to leverage this VOIP solution statewide to support other agency initiatives.

VOIP Implementation to the Desktop

DIR has implemented VOIP within its offices in the Capitol Complex. This internal implementation will be used to develop a VOIP service offering for agencies on the Capitol Complex Telephone System.

VOIP Best Practices Workgroup

DIR established a workgroup to assist in the development of best practices for the implementation of VOIP. This workgroup was composed of subject matter experts from state agencies and institutions of higher education.

The best practices document includes lessons learned from actual VOIP implementations within state agencies and from industry research data. The purpose of the VOIP Best Practices is to provide state agencies with the planning resources necessary for management and technical staff to facilitate successful VOIP implementation. The document provides agencies with references and information specific to project management, VOIP readiness, network security, network performance, change management, and risk mitigation.

The best practices document was published in September 2006 on the DIR Web site. [6]

Amendment to SBC TEX-AN Agreement

DIR exercised four one-year options to extend the TEX-AN agreement with SBC from August 31, 2005, through August 31, 2009. Over the life of this contract extension, the state will receive approximately $20 million in savings and value from this contract amendment. In addition, the state benefits from enhanced and expanded services, including:

Development of the IP Services Gateway platform. This improved network yields a more robust, feature-rich, and resilient Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure.
Network and hardware infrastructure redundancy. This extensive redundancy will minimize the risk of service interruption due to hardware failure and will enhance business continuity.
Network security enhancements, including intrusion detection devices, virtual private networks (VPNs), traffic analyzers, and improved physical security.
Planning for the Texas Collaboration Forum. This forum will allow agencies and other public entities to share and exchange information, ideas, and best practices; test or prove the viability of new network applications; and encourage the adoption of new technologies.

Telecommunications Legislation from the 79th Session

The 79th Legislature passed several bills in fiscal 2005 that affected TPOC and DIR planning in fiscal 2006:

House Bill 1516

Authorized DIR to establish and manage the operations of the state’s data centers as a shared statewide service.
Allowed DIR to utilize LEARN (the Lonestar Education and Research Network) to route latency-tolerant data traffic to and from data centers in instances of disaster recovery and business continuity for state agencies.
Transferred authority to grant waivers from the use of telecommunications services provided by DIR from the TPOC to DIR’s Executive Director.

House Bill 3112

Required DIR to establish a statewide security operations center that will provide network security services to state agencies.

Service Contracts

DIR continues to evaluate its service offerings to ensure that customers have access to the necessary technologies at competitive prices. [7] Service contracts negotiated in fiscal 2006 include:

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) – DIR released a Request for Offer for DSL services in August 2005, and awarded contracts in May of fiscal 2006.
Cable Modem – DIR released a Request for Offer for cable modem services in August 2005, and awarded contracts in May of fiscal 2006.
Data Systems/Telephone Systems Equipment and Services – DIR evaluated responses to a Request for Offer for data and telephone systems equipment and services in July 2005, and expects to award contracts by the end of the first quarter, fiscal 2007.
Cabling Services – DIR developed a Request for Offer for cabling services that will be released in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
Rate Study – DIR developed a Request for Offer to examine the rate methodology used by the Telecommunications Division. The RFO will be released in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
Wireless Voice and Data Services – DIR developed a Request for Offer to establish statewide contracts for wireless voice and data services equipment that will be released in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.

Business Continuity

In fiscal 2006, DIR completed measures to enhance network survivability and ensure business continuity. These measures included:

Expanding the SONET infrastructure
Establishing carrier redundancy
Reducing single points of failure
Addressing network vulnerabilities
Implementing alternate and redundant routing paths

DIR will continue to take the necessary measures to improve network resiliency and ensure business continuity.