Two recent events have emphasised the importance of adherence to appropriate standards and the qualifications of staff.

First, premises have been rendered unsafe and deaths have occurred thanks to the Government’s insulation installation scheme. No qualifications or training had been mandated for the installation staff, nor had there been any standards advised for the installation process itself. The prevailing attitude of the Government appeared to be that the industry is responsible for and can regulate itself.

A second instance occurred recently during the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Tasmania. The project had to be halted due to safety incidents, including the electrocution of an installer. The installation involved aerial lead-ins being connected to homes from joint-use power poles for which there is a very relevant training Standard, ICTTC153B – Work safely near power infrastructure. Indeed any contractor/sub-contractor intending to seek work on the NBN rollout where joint-use poles are concerned would be well advised to do the training and gain this competency.

But how does the connected home fit into this picture? Is there the potential for disaster to occur in residential cabling/equipment installations without adherence to standards and gaining appropriate qualifications?

Safety in residential cabling installations that connect to a telecommunications network boundary (for the provision of internet, phone or Pay TV) is set by the telecommunications regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The cabling installer is required by the ACMA, under the Telecommunications Act, to have an ‘Open’ registration. The training/competency standards needed to obtain the Open registration qualification are expressed in two training packages, version 3 of the ICT02 Telecommunications Training Package and the Electro-technology Training Package.

A ‘Restricted’ registration is generally inadequate to meet ACMA requirements as connected homes have centralised patching facilities, for which an Open registration is required.

Safety standards are mandated by the ACMA in AS/ACIF S009:2006 – Installation requirements for customer cabling and cover safety issues pertaining to residential and commercial cabling installations, including minimum separation/clearances from electrical power cabling and outlets.

One of the lesser known safety rules from this Standard refers to the earthing of coaxial cabling:

11.2 Coaxial cable systems
A telecommunications circuit shall not be connected to the outer conductor of a coaxial cable that may be touched by an end-user, e.g. at a coaxial connector, unless—
(a) the circuit meets the requirements of an SELV circuit; or
(b) the outer conductor is permanently connected to protective earth in accordance with Clause 20.18.
Note 1: For guidance in the design, installation and repair of coaxial cable systems, refer to AS/NZS 1367 and AS 3815.
Note 2: A carrier’s specific requirements may need to be taken into account for the design, installation or repair of any coaxial cabling system used to supply subscription TV (‘pay TV’) or broadband data.

But, while the ACMA requirements cover safety, unfortunately there is another area with the potential to cause customer dissatisfaction. And if action is not taken to adhere to Standards and staffing qualifications, performance problems may result when the NBN’s 100Mbps connection interfaces with residential data cabling. And that would leave more mud on a Government’s collective face.

The performance cabling installed in connected homes involves 4 pair UTP or FTP of either Category 5 or 6 quality and also coaxial cabling. Incorrect installation of the cabling and terminations can result in reduced data throughput as the Ethernet packets carrying the data detect errors and request packet repeats. Too many repeats means a slowing down of throughput.

With internet connections, the end user may put slower internet speed down to the computer, the router, the internet service provider (ISP) or external line problems and may put up with it. But when we get IP-delivered TV and video, as is anticipated with the higher bandwidth NBN connections, distorted/disjointed images on the TV screen will not be tolerated by the end user; and such distortion/disjointed images may be caused by the error repeats of packets and the resulting slowing down of throughput.

Incorrectly installed Cat 5/6 cabling can cause packet errors through reflections of signals (poor return loss) and poor crosstalk performance between pairs, to name two sources of this problem. Cabling that does not have twist ratios maintained at the terminations, is installed with too high a tension and stretched, has sharp bends (doesn’t meet the minimum bending radii), has cable ties too tight or is twisted during installation can cause the cabling performance to deteriorate.

The performance of the installed cabling should of course be tested against the appropriate standard to ensure its performance is adequate.

The Standard which states the performance levels is AS/NZS 3080:2003 Telecommunications installations – Generic cabling for commercial premises and the required performance is for Class D Permanent Link which tests performance up to 100MHz and Class E Permanent Link which tests performance up to 250MHz. There are a number of handheld cable testers which enable these tests to be made. The residential cabling Standard, ISO 15018, calls up AS/ANZ 3080 for specifications and testing.

The competency covering installation of performance twisted pair cabling is ICTTC009D – Place, secure, terminate and certify structured cabling from the telecommunications training package ICT02. This competency can be added voluntarily to an Open registration card by applying to a cabling registrar. The installer is then recognised as a specialist in structured cabling thus giving the end user confidence in the performance of the cabling installation.

Unfortunately, the ACMA has baulked at mandating a standard for performance and the certification testing of such cabling and has not mandated the qualifications/national competency standard required of installers of such cabling.

Nonetheless, installers would be well advised to gain this competency and install to the Standards mentioned above, thereby providing residential cabling which guarantees the customer high local network performance.

Further, it has to be in the interests of the installing company’s reputation as well as being in the best interest of the end user community to do so.