FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 17, 2008

Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Revises Commercial Building Cabling Standard

Update Supports Category 6A, Next Generation Cable Applications

Washington, D.C. - The Telecommunications Industry Association development and intelligence for the information and communications technology (ICT) industries, has published TIA Standard 568-B.2-10: Transmission Performance Specifications for 4-Pair 100 Ohm Augmented Category 6 Cabling. Category 6A cabling supports the next-generation of Internet applications, including the transfer of larger amounts of data at higher speeds, up to 10 Gigabit data rates.

Since network cabling is part of a building's infrastructure, the installation of new cabling is expected to serve the needs of the occupants for a minimum of 10 years. Networking demands, technology advances and economics dictate that 10GBASE-T Ethernet standard will be widely deployed by 2013. This means that the cabling installed today will need to support at least two generations of Ethernet. Category 6A cabling is specifically designed to support the network demands of the next generation 10GBASE-T Ethernet standard, providing superior network performance.

Category 6A cabling also supports "bundled cable" implementations for channels up to 100 meters, as well as for short reach mode (low power) implementations for distances up to 30 meters.

The standard addresses the newer cable designs that are about 0.30 inches in diameter, compared with 0.25 inches for high end Category 6 and 0.2 inches for Category 5e. The cable itself is designed with larger conductors (23 AWG minimum), tighter twists and more airspace in the core. This provides a cable with much lower losses at high frequencies and significantly better alien crosstalk isolation between cables.

Another benefit of the larger conductors and the lower packing density is better heat dissipation. This is a benefit for the next generation Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+) standard, which is intended to deliver between 30 Watts to 60 Watts of power over two pairs or four pairs respectively.

TIA-568-B.2-10 was formulated under the cognizance of the TIA TR42.7: Telecommunications Copper Cabling Systems Engineering Committee's TR-42.7. To obtain copies of the document, contact IHS International Inc. at (800) 854-7179 or visit http://global.ihs.com.

For technical information regarding participating in the TR-42 committee please contact Marianna Kramarikova at mkramarikova@tiaonline.org. For media inquiries, please contact Taly Walsh at twalsh@tiaonline.org.

The companies participating in TR-42 are: 3M Communication Markets Division, ADC, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Allied Telephone and Data Corp., Anixter Inc, Avaya, Baxter Enterprises, Beast Cabling Systems, Bechtel Telecom, Bel Stewart Connectors, Belden Networks Division, Berk-Tek, Broadcom Corporation, BTR Netcom Inc, Business Communication Svcs., C2 Consulting, Chatsworth Products, Inc., CIENA Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., CommScope Network Division, Connectivity Technologies, Inc., Corning Inc., CSI Telecommunications, dbi, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Supply Center, Columbus, Diamond USA, Inc., Dietrich Lockard Group, Inc., Draka Comteq Optical Fibre, Emtelle US Inc., ERICO Inc., Erico, Inc. Caddy Fastener Div., EXFO E.O. Engineering, Inc., Experior Photonics, Inc., The Fiber Optic Association, FiberSource Inc., Fluke Networks, Furukawa Industrial S.A., GarrettCom, Gemalto INC, General Cable, Genesis Cable Systems, Graybar, Greenlee Textron Inc., Harger, Inc., HARTING, Inc. of North America, Henkels & McCoy Inc., Hitachi Cable, Ltd., Homaco, Hubbell Premise Wiring, ICC, Ideal Industries, Inc., Intertek Testing Services, ITW Linx, J&M Consultants, Inc., JDSU, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KITCO Fiber Optics, Leviton Network Solutions, Luna Technologies, MC Communications, Molex Inc., Motorola Inc., National Technical Systems (NTS), NetGemini, Inc., NIES (Nexans Intel. Ent. Solutions), NORDX/Belden CDT Inc., Nortel Networks, Northwest Information Services, Noyes Fiber Systems, ODVA Open Devicenet Vendor Association, Inc., OFS, Ortronics, Inc., Panasonic Electric Works Laboratory of America, Panduit Corporation, Phoenix Contact, Photon Kinetics, Inc., POFTO & Information Gatekeepers, PPC, Quabbin Wire & Cable Co., Inc., RIT Technologies Inc., RTKL Associates Inc., The Siemon Company, SMP Data Communications Inc., Soapstone Networks, Solvay Solexis, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corp., Superior Essex, Surtec America, Telcordia Technologies, Inc., Tellabs, Inc., Timbercon, Inc., Tyco Electronics, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, UL Underwriters Laboratories Inc., US Conec LTD, Westell Technologies, Inc., Wiltec Technologies, Xtellus Dynamic Optics, The Wiremold Company, Yazaki NA Inc., Y-Connect Oper.

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About TIA
Celebrating its 20^th Anniversary, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) represents the global information and communications technology (ICT) industries through standards development, advocacy, business opportunities, market intelligence and world-wide environmental regulatory compliance. Thousands of companies and individuals work through TIA to enhance the business environment for telecommunications, broadband, mobile wireless, information technology, networks, cable, satellite, unified communications, emergency communications and the greening of technology. TIA is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

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