Equipment recovery,
disposal and reselling




On face value, recovery of network equipment sounds straight forward. However, that’s not always the case. When tasked with recovery of network equipment, TPS have had to consider timing, associated devices, alarm monitoring and geographical placement as all these constraints effect the timing of works and can adjust the cost/benefit of a recovery. TPS are experienced at providing equipment power down, recovery, transport, collation and sale of recovered network equipment. Often, recovering equipment early enough in its lifecycle means that there can still be significant financial value. TPS provide the opportunity to offset recovery costs against equipment sales. When approached by Telstra to recover MC88V configured uBR’s (Universal Broadband Routers, aka CMTS’s) TPS performed an analysis of the equipment status. We were able to determine that equipment was located across 35 disparate locations in 4 states. By interpreting location, we were able to plan for a systematic recovery. We recovered equipment from network sites, freighted it back to our central logistics facility in Melbourne and then brokered a sale of the equipment to a foreign client on Telstra’s behalf.
The costs associated with the sale paid for the entire recovery program, costing Telstra nothing. The added benefit was that removals of the equipment significantly reduced CSF (Common Station Facility) costs including powerband air-conditioning. Furthermore, space was freed for installation of new equipment in the future. Like most operators, Telstra have security and commercial constraints that they must adhere to. For example, the Cisco equipment couldn’t be sold with operation system software installed. Furthermore, configuration files contained security and network information that Telstra needed to keep separate. To combat these concerns, TPS energised the equipped in our labs, connected to the CLI, delegated the configuration files and operating systems, then produced an inventory report showing the current clear configuration of the hardware. These “inventory reports” were used to show Telstra stakeholders that the security requirements had been met, but also used to provide prospective overseas purchasers with a very specific run-down of the equipment being purchased.
Often, purchasers of IT or communications equipment are located abroad, so don’t have the ability to inspect equipment, meaning that sea or air freight of equipment can be risky for them because they cant first “test before they buy”. To manage this risk, TPS provide remote access via a jump host to a CLI environment for prospective equipment. This way the equipment can be tested prior to shipping. TPS also work with a global network of equipment recyclers and have built trusted relationships. We allow some of our partners to take delivery of equipment without payment, and if the equipment doesn’t meet expectations or promises, will accept a negotiated non-payment. This strategy means that some bulky equipment still gets purchased in a situation where others would refrain from a purchase due to the high freight costs out of Australia.






When removing equipment that has been decommissioned, it is still necessary for our staff to deactivate alarms, update database records and to handle change management constraints. Decommissioned network equipment is still connected to production network alarm monitoring and communications equipment. If not properly disconnected and records updated aren’t correctly completed, then un-needed truck rolls could be requested.




At times, our clients request that TPS carry out a analysis on the equipment lifecycle. We calculate operational costs, functionality constraints and then make recommendations on proactive asset replacement. In some circumstances, it makes sense to decommission and replace the equipment much earlier in its lifecycle. This proactive replacement reduces operational costs and provides new functionality, enabling our clients to sell more services and retain customers.
For example, TPS recommended that a series of line cards in a CMTS should be replaced, even though they were very recently installed. We made this recommendation because it enabled our client to provide end users with faster access speeds and also allowed one existing chassis to replace 10 existing ones. This reduced power consumption by almost 65% and provided end-users with access speeds 2-3 times faster than at present.