Organisations that deploy, own and maintain infrastructure systems and networks make considerable investments in time and money, and it makes complete business sense to maximise the return on these investments. Even if it were desirable to make wholesale replacements, such projects take time to undertake. Ideally, if the equipment is performing satisfactorily and operational requirements have not changed, then is better to keep the existing equipment maintained for as long as possible.
Critical infrastructure systems are typically built to last, with high availability and reliable system components, and interchangeable spare parts. But sooner or later, repairs to elements are needed. During initial deployment and warranty periods, this is not normally an issue, but over time, these services become more specialised and difficult to obtain, as vendors advance their portfolios and discontinue older products.
@YellowsBestLtd specialises in ‘Keeping Customers Operational‘ by sourcing equipment spare parts and hardware repairs to modern and legacy systems. Should you have any requirements, please get in touch; we would be very pleased to hear from you, and look forward to being of assistance.
Take a look at some of the elements for which we provide hardware repairs services: Recent repairs requests
Although the installation of fibre broadband services have been rolling out across the UK for some time now, there still seems much confusion relating to the various services on offer.
@YellowsBestLtd has been receiving ‘Fibre To The Premises’ (FTTP – sometimes referred to as ‘Fibre To The Home’ FTTH) from @Gigaclear since our formation in 2015. We are therefore able to provide this brief summary of our experiences and comparison of the types possible and their capabilities:
Full Fibre (FTTP) – fibre runs directly to the office or house, giving the fastest and most reliable speeds. This is what we had installed by Gigaclear; a dedicated fibre line into a fibre modem which can be directly connected to using ethernet cable or via a wifi router.
Part Fibre or ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ (FTTC) – fibre runs to the neighbourhood cabinet, and then data runs over copper lines into the building. The transmission speed and bandwidth is therefore reduced in comparison to Full Fibre. This is the type of on offer to many consumers where the local telephony provider is not able to rollout fibre replacement for the ‘last mile’ of copper connection.
Copper or non-fibre – the traditional, existing telephone lines are used to provide the broadband service. This naturally provides the slowest speed and least data bandwidth. Many communities still rely on this as the only means of internet connection, since no fibre broadband deployment has been made.
The net result is that with Full Fibre, it is possible to receive previously unheard of speeds. Indeed the maximum service on offer is so fast, it outstrips the requirements of most homes and businesses. It is therefore typical that a reduced service is selected purely for cost-saving purposes.
Our own experiences have found that the Ultrafast 300 service from Gigaclear to be more than adequate for our needs. This is a screen shot of an actual speed test of the service we are being provided with:
In many cases the ‘full fibre’ service we have chosen, approximately a third the speed of the maximum possible, is still at least 10x faster than part or no fibre services. Not only is it faster, it provides a very stable connection less prone to interference and service outages. Thought due to network backhauling connections, is not unknown for interruptions to be possible; fortunately these are relatively rare.
The main difficulty for most businesses and homes remains the lack of universal provision. Whereas we have no reservations in recommending Gigaclear’s full-fibre service, we recognise this is not available everywhere. It is just fortunate for us that rural communities like ours was prioritised in their initial service rollout.
@YellowsBestLtd our mission is in “Keeping Customers Operational”. We’re always keen to enhance our range of #business services, increase the #enterprise infrastructure we support and expand our mix of #sustainable solutions we offer for supply and maintenance of new and legacy #technologies and products for our customers.
Please get in touch to help us understand your management services or solutions requirements, whether you’re implementing new systems or maintaining existing infrastructure networks to serve your operational business needs.
YellowsBest, with our mission of “Keeping Customers Operational” by providing solutions and services to support and enhance infrastructure systems, is celebrating our 7th Anniversary milestone.
Sincere thanks to our loyal Customers and suppliers in making this achievement possible. We look forward to continuing to assist in fulfilling requirements for #business consultancy, #enterprise infrastructure support services, spares and repairs #sustainable solutions for maintenance and the supply of new and legacy #technologies and products for our customers.
From the beginning of April 2020, all UK VAT-registered businesses will need to keep digital records of all transactions, and then submit VAT returns electronic using compatible software.
Whereas many businesses have already started using Making Tax Digital (MTD), the new deadline means that all businesses of any size that are VAT registered will need to comply.
Signing Up to MTD by the next VAT period due
The new electronic service replaces the ‘manual’ VAT return for businesses on their next submission after the 1st April start date, which remains at the same quarterly interval. So (for example) if the business’s current VAT period is February to April, then this can be completed in the usual way when due in May. But the following VAT period of May to July will require a digital submission in August (and thereafter). Signing up to MTD needs to be made at least 7 days before the date the first MTD return is due. It’s important however not to sign up less than 5 days after the last non-MTD return, to avoid duplication of payments.
Signing up is accomplished via the MTD GOV.UK website, requiring a Government Gateway ID with business and VAT registration information.
Obtaining and using compatible software
Various providers of accounting software are available to both record digital transactions and make the electronic VAT submissions. This also includes using spreadsheets, though in that case bridging software will be needed to make the submission.
A top tip for NatWest Bank business customers is that they will provide the MTB compliant accounting software FreeAgent at no cost.
Assisting with your business requirements
@YellowsBestLtd would be interested to receive feedback on your transition to MTD and any other business transformation challenges you are facing. If appropriate, there may be areas of your business development or operations that we can support with consultancy services e.g. sales and marketing assistance. Please get in touch to discuss how we can be of help.
It’s been a challenging time for businesses generally, and particularly in the United Kingdom, with Brexit in many cases adding cost and time to trading, and Covid-19 restricting travel and networking.
So it seemed an appropriate time to launch a new varient of the Yellows Best Limited website, now additionally utilising “.co.uk” as a signifier of commitment to our home market location.
Keeping Customers Operational
The new YellowsBest.co.uk promotes the same blend of Services and Solutions for “Keeping Customers Operational”, but presented in a different and modern single-page layout, making it particularly mobile device-friendly where ‘vertical scrolling’ is more appealing than using the traditional ‘horizontal tabbed’ layout.
We hope this provides Customers old and new with a welcome alternative, though the original YellowsBest.com will continue to be maintained, along with it’s associated blog for ‘informal’ views and news updates.
Assisting with your requirements
It would be interesting to receive feedback as to how useful you may find this additional site, and whether there is anything else you’d like to see featured.
Of course, @YellowsBestLtd online content ultimately serves the purpose of highlighting the types of services and solutions we can provide. Customers may therefore be prompted to get in touch to discuss their specific requirements, which we can usually assist with.
It’s been an uncertain period leading up to the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU). Now that that ‘Brexit’ has happened, as of 1st January 2021, businesses are having to work out the practical changes having an impact on international trading.
The reality of the situation is that it will take time to fully understand the new rules and what effect they have on imports and exports. Due to this uncertainty, some companies are choosing to curtail international activities, which is having an effect on availability of supply.
So this is a subject that will need to be revisited as experience is gained. What seems likely is that there will be more administration and higher costs.
@YellowsBestLtd has a 5-year history of trading not just within the EU, but globally, and it’s this experience which is helpful in understanding the adjustments needed. Put simply, all import and export business within and beyond the EU is now ‘similar’ in principle in terms of customs and tax, with or without government ‘trade deals’ being agreed.
VAT charging and reclaim in the UK
It’s helpful to first understand how VAT works on a national level. In the UK, it’s charged on the sale of many goods where ‘value has been added’ at a rate of 20% of the selling price. To consumers, that’s just a tax they pay within the total purchase price. For businesses, that element of the sale is ‘collected’ on behalf of the government, totaled and paid quarterly via their tax return. However, VAT-registered businesses are able to ‘claim back’ the taxed paid on their own purchases. The logic being, that when you’re ‘trading’ i.e. buying and selling, the amount of tax due on goods is that relating to the ‘value add’ – so the difference between the tax charged on the cost price and that charged on the selling price. Which of course should be more, if you’re making any kind of profit.
How VAT previously applied for UK businesses trading within the EU
To avoid the complications of how to ‘settle’ the collection and claiming back of taxes on purchases made between EU member states, an arrangement is in place such that each country is responsible for their own VAT affairs. Here’s how charging for VAT works for businesses when trading within the EU:
The goods are zero-rated for VAT, from suppliers that are VAT-registered. This means that the export invoice, stating “intra-community supply”, charges VAT at 0%.
The VAT-registered buyer (importing company) then declares the ‘acquisition’ on their VAT return (in “Box 2”)
The buyer simultaneously also ‘reclaims’ the VAT (included in “Box 4”) on the same VAT return
The logic behind these transactions is that the purchaser acts as both the “seller and the buyer”, for VAT purposes, Hence the transaction is accounted for entirely within one member state, and no funds need to be transferred to or from the tax authorities.
When these arrangements applied to UK businesses selling goods to buyers in EU member states, a ‘VAT EC Sales List” also needed to be completed and sent to the HMRC.
VAT and trading globally
Now the UK is ‘outside’ the EU, the ‘intra-community’ arrangement for VAT no longer applies from 1st January 2021. Instead, all international trading follows the same process, for all countries both within and beyond the EU.
UK businesses making global purchases receive an invoice from their international supplier which has no VAT added. But the UK government will separately charge VAT at 20%; this amount needs sending directly to HMRC. Typically, this amount will be collected by the courier physically transporting the goods, and normally an administration fee will be additionally charged for this transaction. If an agreement hasn’t been made with the seller, it is often the case the buyers find they need to pay these additional costs before the imported goods will be released from customs and delivered. Reclaiming of import VAT will then be made via the VAT return as an input tax, following the normal rules for UK-paid VAT.
Alternatively, import VAT can be accounted for using “postponed VAT accounting” on the VAT-return, which essentially is a similar scheme to the EU “intra-community” arrangement. This requires ensuring that the courier is advised how import VAT will be accounted, so they can complete the customs declaration appropriately.
Similarly, UK businesses selling goods internationally don’t add VAT to their invoices, but are likely to have import taxes added by the authorities in the receiving country. If the buyer has not agreed to include these additional costs within their purchase order, this can mean that the seller needs to settle these charges as part of their cost of supply, typically being charged by the courier used to deliver the goods. The difficulty is knowing in advance what is likely to be charged.
Customs Duty and Commodity Codes
In addition to VAT, businesses trading internationally need to take into account Customs Duty (and for certain products, Excise Duty as well) that may be charged on imports.
For UK businesses, this means checking with the HMRC and specifying the correct ‘Commodity Code’ for the goods, which will determine how much is charged. Unfortunately, there are thousands of such codes, covering all manner of products, so identifying the right code can take some searching.
@YellowsBestLtd typically imports a range of telecommunications spare parts, and can therefore advise that for similar requirements the following is applicable: Commodity Code: 8517620000
Commodity Code: 8517620000
According to the HMRC website, sales of these goods should have no Duty to pay on imports. It’s less clear what may need to be paid on exports since this will vary by country. The ongoing concern is trying to anticipate these costs in advance, but by making an excessive allowance for them can mean an uncompetitive offer, causing a loss of business.
Your Experiences and Questions
We’d like to hear about your concerns or practical experiences of international trading, both before and after Brexit, within and beyond the EU. Please get in touch, and let us know how we can help with your continuing business requirements. We look forward to hearing from you.
Phased Discontinuation of Production – 31st May 2019 – 31st January 2020
The production of the ‘Dynanet’ family of PDH Transmission telecoms products, first introduced by Nokia over 20 years ago, and continued in recent years by DNWP, is finally being ended.
This product range has well served Public Operator and Private Network Customers across the Telecoms, Utilities, Transport and Public Safety markets with high availability mission critical infrastructure, and indeed some networks are continuing to provide good operational service.
Essentially almost all the old equipment items, with a very few exceptions such as the TPS64, are being completely discontinued in a phased way according to these milestones, which have already commended:
31st May 2019 – DM8 Multiplexers, DF2-8 Optical Terminals, RPSA
31st October 2019 – DM2 Multiplexers, Subs/Exch & VF Cards, DN2 IU2, Service Terminals, V.28/V.11 DIU
31stJanuary 2020 – DB2, DN2 CU & BPU, G.703 & V.110, DIU, Ethernet I/F, Ring Gen, NDM 19” Subrack, NDA
@YellowsBestLtd satisfies customer product sourcing requirements for current and ‘legacy’ equipment technologies.
Should you wish to read the full ‘ramp-down’ notice and know more about obtaining equipment before it is no longer available, then please get in touch.
The UMUX platform provides carrier-grade reliable multi-service multiplexing and aggregation functions over copper and fibre networks. A variety of voice (POTS, FSX, FSO, ISDN) and data (e.g. G.703, V.11, V,24, V,35) interfaces, SHDSL and Ethernet (including PoE+ and EoS) services are available.
UMUX module range
The modular and flexible housing provided by the UMUX 1500 (8U, 21-slot) and UMUX 1200 (4U, 8-slot) 19” subracks provide the perfect solution for all applications and locations, offering redundant controller and power supplies.
‘Legacy’ telecoms history
The UMUX SDH product portfolio was originally launched 1991 by Ascom, which subsequently became Keymile.
In 2003, by when 70,000 units had been deployed worldwide, the ‘enhanced’ UMUX multiservice access platform was introduced, offering the delivery of ATM, TDM and IP based services from the same platform, with support for IP/Ethernet, ADSL, VoDSL and G.SHDL.
Keymile was sold to ABB in 2017 when the UMUX range was discontinued, and then was acquired in 2019 by DZS.
Continuing to provide operational service
The UMUX, together with the UNEM network management system and ‘sister’ LINERUNNER and MILEGATE products, continues to provide operational service with various global Operator, Utilities and Transport companies.
@YellowsBestLtd supports requirements to maintain these networks by supplying various spare part items from refurbished and surplus stocks in perfect working order.
There follows a list of the main elements that are typically provided, though other items can be provided. Please let us know of any specific requirements you may have. We look forward to being of assistance.
The Nokia ‘Dynanet’ family of PDH Transmission telecoms products has served customers well for the last 20+ years, and indeed some networks continue providing good operational service.
Dynanet Subtrack
@YellowsBestLtd has supported requirements to maintain these networks by supplying various spare part items from refurbished and surplus stocks in perfectly working order.
However, demand has recently reduced and warehouse space is needed, so now the time has come to recycle / dispose of a large proportion of the remaining equipment. Consequently, there remains a short-term opportunity to obtain any items still required to maintain existing deployed infrastructure, before the products are gone.
Here is a stock list of the main items currently available, though there may be a few additional parts that can be supplied. Hence, please check and if you do have any requirements, please let us know – before it’s too late! We look forward to hearing from you.
Part Number
Description
24204
TPSO H/W Module
CC 24002
DB2 Branching Unit, B2 2×2 Mb/s 75 ohm
CC 24011
DB2 2 Mb/s Switching Unit, X2 75 ohm
CC 24101
DN2 Interface Unit (IU2) 2×2 Mb/s 75 ohm
CC 24111
DN2 Control Unit (CU) 75 ohm
CF 24186
DN2 19″ Subrack
CF 24186.09
DN2 Subrack 19″, grey-L91 EMC
CG 24170
DN2 Bus Power Unit (BPU)
CG 24171
Extended DN2 Bus Power Unit (EBPU)
CU 24013
Data Interface Unit (DIU) 2M, nx64k: G.703/704, 75 ohm
T30506.09
17-slot DYNANET Subrack
T30851.02
Subrack Power Adapter (SPA)
T37870.01
NDM ACM2 19in 17-slot subrack
T37871.01
NDM DN2 19″ 17-Slot Subrack
T37882.01
NDM DC Unit (NDUe)
T37882.02
NDM DC Unit (NDUe)
T37885.01
NDM Ring Generator
T37889.01
NDM Backup Unit (NBU)
T65520.01
ACL2 RM DC Power Gen
T65580.01
ACL2i PF GEN Line Terminal Card
TA 21513
Optical Line Terminal Repeater 2-8 M, 1300 nm LED MM/SM
TA 21516
Optical Line Terminal Repeater 2-8 M, 1300 nm LASER SM
TC 21101
DM34 Mux Card
TC 21301
DM8 Multiplex Equipment, 75 ohm
TC 21705
Supervisory Substation
TC 21710.01
TMS Adapter
TG 21261
Ring Generator 25HZ 15W
TU 21122.5
Data Interface Unit (DIU) 48..64k V.11 10ch
TU 21124
Data Interface Unit (DIU) NX64k V.11/V.35/X.21 2CH
@YellowsBestLtd has now reached the significant milestone of completing three years of trading; something often useful to be able to state when qualifying for opportunities and registering with business customers.
Our aim continues to be “Keeping Customers Operational”; understanding requirements and fulfilling them by providing a range of management services and solutions, including:
consultancy, such as business development planning
technical support, e.g. day-rate engineering, NMS assistance
systems supply, including legacy IT servers / workstations
spares for infrastructure, in particular telecoms and CCTV cameras
repairs at module and component level, e.g. LED displayboards
value recovery through reverse logistics, resale and recycling
As we move forward in year four, we’d very much like to discover what else to provide to our existing Customers, as well as what would be of interest to potential clients. We’re always keen to enhance our range of #business services, increase the #enterprise infrastructure we support and expand our mix of #sustainable solutions we offer for supply and maintenance of new and legacy #technologies and products.
Please get in touch to discuss your challenges; whether you’re implementing new systems or maintaining existing infrastructure to serve your operational business needs. We look forward to hearing from you.
