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Invitation for Participation

GR-137-CORE
Generic Requirements for Telecommunications Metallic Wire Products Used in Telecommunications Facilities, Issue 2

and

GR-492-CORE
Generic Requirements for Telecommunications Metallic Wire Products Used in Outside Plant Applications, Issue 2

In recent years, Telcordia has been working to update and consolidate its metallic cable and wire Generic Requirements documents (GR). Within the last few years, Telcordia has updated its major Outside Plant (OSP) metallic cable documents to GR-421, Generic Requirements for Metallic Telecommunications Cables; GR-3163, Generic Requirements for Metallic Telecommunications Service and Distribution Drop Wires; and GR-3164, Generic Requirements for Metallic Telecommunications Premises Wires.

Telcordia wants to extend this effort to wire and cables used inside telecommunications facilities and other remaining applications, and proposes to update (and change the document titles of) GR-137 and GR-492. In addition to updating and consolidating all the twisted-pair cable documents, this effort will also harmonize requirement procedures, methods, and pass/fail criteria across all copper and cable products.

Planned Technical Items for GR-137 Include the Following:

1. Expand the scope of the document to cover cables used in telecommunications facilities located in central offices, data centers, and commercial buildings.
2. Update material choices for cable jacket and insulation materials to harmonize with recent work on GR-3164 (inside cables) and GR-421 (PIC cables).
3. Update the Quality Assurance subsection in Section 2 to include the latest Quality Management System (QMS) philosophy, including ISO9000 and TL 9000 approaches to product quality and reliability issues.
4. Revise the packaging subsections in Section 3 to harmonize with GR-421 and GR-3164.
5. Update referenced GR-492 procedures and criteria in Section 4, while bringing technical information explicitly into the new GR-137. Where possible and appropriate, requirements shall be harmonized with GR-3164 and relevant ICEA and UL industry standards.

Note: Color coding, cable core unit makeup, pair counts, and product codes for these facilities cables vary significantly from GR-3164/GR-421 type cable products, and these differences will be retained during the update.

6. Update binder and shield requirements in Section 4 to recent developments and harmonize with GR-3164 and relevant ICEA and UL industry standards.
7. Update jacket and insulation materials requirements in Section 4 to create functional performance criteria and move away from implicit material-specific requirements, as was accomplished in GR-3163 and GR-3164, while harmonizing with relevant ICEA and UL industry standards where possible.
8. Update referenced GR-492 procedures and criteria in Section 6 while bringing technical information explicitly into the new GR-137. Where necessary, review and update the electrical transmission capabilities of the cables to meet the demands of current and future broadband networks.

Because GR-137-CORE, Issue 1, contains multiple cross references to test procedures and requirements in GR-492-CORE, Issue 1, it is imperative that GR-137 and GR-492 be updated together. Therefore, this work effort shall concurrently revise and update GR-492.

Planned Technical Items for GR-492 Include the Following:

1. Review the scope of GR-492 to explicitly identify the wire products covered by GR-492. The current intention is to incorporate functional performance requirements for any metallic wire product not already covered by GR-421, GR-3163, GR-3164, and the new GR-137, into a new section of GR-492.
2. Update the Quality Assurance subsection in Section 1 to include the latest Quality Management System (QMS) philosophy, including ISO9000 and TL 9000 approaches to product quality and reliability issues.
3. Update the polyolefin insulation materials requirements in Section 3 (Polyolefin Insulations) to create functional performance criteria and move away from implicit material-specific requirements, as was accomplished in GR-421 and GR-3163, while harmonizing with relevant ICEA and UL industry standards where possible.
4. Update the jacket materials requirements in Section 5 (Jacket) to create functional performance criteria and move away from implicit material-specific requirements, as was accomplished in GR-3164, while harmonizing with relevant ICEA and UL industry standards.
5. Update the jacket materials requirements in Section 6 (Completed Product Testing) to create functional performance criteria and move away from implicit material-specific requirements, as was accomplished in GR-421 and GR-3164, while harmonizing with relevant ICEA and UL industry standards where possible.
6. Update the procedures and criteria in Section 7 (Electrical) while reviewing, where necessary, the electrical transmission capabilities of the cables to meet the demands of current and future broadband networks and the scope of wire products covered.
7. Revise packaging and product marking criteria in Section 8 to harmonize with GR-421 and GR-3164.
8. Add a new section that is modeled on the Product Classification section of GR-421. This new section will describe all the metallic wire products covered by GR-492, and reference the applicable requirements criteria from the previous sections (2 through 8). The current intention is to include wire products currently referenced in TA-TSY-000128 (Bridle Wire), TA-TSY-000129 (Tree Wire), TA-TSY-000141 (Terminating Cable), and TA-TSY-000142 (Hook-Up Wire), along with cross references to other GRs that cover products containing insulated conductor components.

A detailed, section-by-section plan for the GR-137 and GR-492 revisions is available on request (SR-6004, Telcordia 2012 Plans for Metallic Telecommunications Wire and Cable GR Documents, Issue 2).

The Value of Participation

Participation at the GR-137 and GR-492 TTF provides members with the opportunity to exchange ideas that are germane to copper and cable products, and network equipment reliability. The benefits of participating in this forum include opportunities to:

• Propose changes to existing generic requirements and define new requirements
• Review and update test procedures
• Network with your industry peers and gain a better understanding of each participating company's needs and concerns
• Influence the technical content of GR-137 and GR-342.

Telcordia Invites Your Participation

Pursuant to provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, related to the development of industry-wide generic requirements, Telcordia invites all interested parties to participate in the development of this new issue of the GR. If your company is interested in participating in this activity, please contact Telcordia. An Enterprise License (EL) is included in the participation fee for this GR project.

To proceed with this GR, it is expected that Telcordia will need four industry participants. While the project can proceed with fewer participants, the scope of work may need to be scaled back accordingly. Participating industry members will be apprised regularly of project status and change in scope. A preliminary conference call for all interested participants in this GR development project will be scheduled during December 2011 at which time project details and status will be discussed.