7 will lay its own leased lines to its customers. In view of the
costs, 7 is targeting medium and large corporate customers, instead
of the SME sector.
Karl Roe, CEO of 7, told Silicon.com, “No one can offer a
[service level agreement] on the internet . At the present level of
performance it just isn’t possible. It is absolutely key for
corporate users to have reliability on performance and when the
internet is ready to deliver [a service level agreement] we will
use it, but we can’t do it today.”
John Salmon of OUT-LAW.COM said:
“Service level agreements are standard
contracts when businesses deal with ASPs, ISPs, virtual ISPs or
with hosting arrangements. Given the unreliable nature of the
internet, no service provider will want to guarantee absolute
levels of up-time as they may find themselves with significant
liabilities.
“The common approach is to agree a service
level where the allowable down-time only includes that which is
within the control of the service provider. So if the problem is
caused by the unreliability of the internet then the service
provider will not be held accountable. However, it is often a
contentious negotiating point. What 7 appears to be doing is taking
a commercial approach to exploit a widely-acknowledged
problem.”
