Maintenance Services & Ongoing Support Services
Providing high-quality maintenance services supports the unique value we offer our customers in connection with their access to our shared network.
We are responsible for servicing those fiber that have been sold to our customers, until the warranty period in respect of the relevant core sold to the customer (which generally lasts for a period of twelve months) expires. Once the warranty period of a fiber has expired, we continue to maintain such core and charge an annual maintenance fee (generally 2% - 3% of the contract value) for such service, providing us with a long-term, visible and recurring revenue stream. We also provide maintenance services to our customers in respect of fiber leased to such customers. Providing high-quality maintenance services supports the value proposition of we offer our customers in connection with their access to our shared network. Therefore, it is imperative our maintenance systems and teams adhere to high-quality standards and processes, so as to ensure the quality, safety and competitiveness of the shared fiber network we provide to our customers.
As of December 31, 2018, we had established 62 and 30 maintenance teams in Myanmar and Cambodia, respectively. Maintenance is performed by our trained employees, who have undertaken our internal comprehensive maintenance training course, which assists in their maintenance efforts and facilitates our efforts to maintain a reliable network. Our maintenance teams are strategically disbursed across Myanmar and Cambodia, with each team being responsible for 300 to 500 route km and 500 to 700 route km of fiber optic cable, respectively, depending upon the topography and general road and traffic conditions applicable to each maintenance support team. We also distribute our maintenance teams, that are equipped with maintenance equipment, along our network routes, so that our maintenance teams are equipped to deal with network shortages or faults.
Our maintenance teams perform the following core functions:
Preventative maintenance to our network.
Our preventative maintenance program primarily involves monitoring (in the case of our colocation facilities) and patrolling around our network infrastructure, repairing or upgrading portions of our network before they give rise to disruption to service to our customers, and educating local governments and communities on the location, protection and safety matters related to our network. Preventative maintenance of our networks is typically performed according to a predefined schedule at fixed intervals, based upon running hours or otherwise according to manufacturer or engineering specifications.
Responding to and Repairing Faults.
If a material fault occurs, such as a cut in the optic cable, we rely on our trained maintenance personnel, using the appropriate technical equipment, to determine the location of the fault. Once the fault is located, we immediately dispatch our maintenance employees to remedy the fault. If a material fault is experienced or discovered by our team, we can divert fiber traffic relating to those customers away from the material fault in order to minimize disruption to these customers. During the year ended December 31, 2018, our median time to repair was 5.3 hours in Myanmar and 3.3 hours in Cambodia, which we believe is competitive and makes us a leader in the provision of timely maintenance services to customers in the countries in which we operate.
Testing fiber periodically to check integrity.
Our maintenance teams test fibers across our network to confirm the integrity of fibers we hold in inventory on an ongoing basis. The testing is carried out periodically to ensure the operation of the fiber within our network, and to understand where potential problems may arise.
Assisting in network design and expansion.
Our maintenance teams assist in monitoring the utilization of the various parts of our network and available capacity, and update relevant information to our planning and marketing teams.
Increasing customer communication.
Our maintenance teams frequently meet with our customers to update them on the status of various maintenance works and projects, but to also assess and learn about their existing and future needs. We believe this ongoing communication further supports our ability to better understand our customers’ existing and potential business and operational needs.
