Cabling performance - requirements for high-quality NBN cabling

Technical performance standards for customer cabling are not covered adequately in the requirements for qualifying as an ACMA CPR Registered Cabler. The emphasis in the Cabling Provider Rules (CPR) is on meeting ACMA regulatory requirements for registration. Some trainers do not go beyond the minimum requirements for registration and the NBN rollout has highlighted the need for better cable performance. While many existing customer installations may be suitable for the short term, in the longer term upgrades will be needed.

Up to the present time, cabling for telecommunication services in general is required to be installed to the wiring rules AS/ACIF S009. This standard should always be covered in the telecommunications training program for CPR registration. The objective of this standard is to set out minimal requirements that may ensure the safety and integrity of a cabling installation and of the telecommunications network to which it is, or will be, connected, and to provide additional guidance for compliance with these requirements. It should be noted that there are no performance requirements included in this standard.

Many cablers are unaware that the performance requirements for cabling of this quality are provided in AS/NZS 3080: 2003. The objective of this Standard is to provide users with requirements to ensure compatibility with equipment and services and to ensure performance of infrastructure to meet present and foreseeable future requirements.

To achieve the performance requirement for high-level NBN services, the cable used should be a minimum of Category 5e within a residence; but where IPTV is required, Category 6 should be used - and Category 6 in business premises. The cables should be tested to the requirements listed in AS/NZS 3080: 2003. Testers for this function can be rented from wholesale outlets.

Other standards and handbooks that will be of assistance for NBN quality cabling are:

• AS/NZS ISO/IEC 15018: 2005 Generic cabling for homes
• AS/NZS ISO/IEC 24702: 2007 Generic cabling - industrial premises
• HB 252 -2007 Residential communications cabling handbook
• HB 29 -2007 Communications cabling handbook

The services supplied by the NBN network are of a high quality and high bandwidth type that requires performance parameters to be met within the customers premises. If the performance parameters are not met then the customer will be paying for a service that is not providing the NBNCo supplied performance.

By Kevin Fothergill, Registrar, TITAB Australia