Verizon’s annual NEBS meeting in Baltimore, Maryland with ITL Labs was last week, and MET Labs’ NEBS guru Troy Franklin was there. Following are highlights from his notes.
NEBS Personnel Changes
Verizon NEBS Program Head Howard Davis has exited the NEBS group, assuming leadership of Verizon’s Optical Systems Testing team in Baltimore.
Andy Marquis, from Verizon’s Waltham, Massachusetts office, is now heading the NEBS group.
Todd Talbot will continue to lead the NEBS Conference, which is October 23-24 in Las Vegas.
Product Field Failures
Verizon has been stung by NEBS product field failures, due to occasional insufficient manufacturer documentation of engineering change notices (ECNs) and product change notifications (PCNs). Going forward, Verizon will scrutinize test reports for proper documentation of product or component changes.
Data Center Requirements/GR-3160-CORE
Telcordia is inviting vendors and labs to participate in the rewrite of GR-3160-CORE: NEBS Requirements for Telecommunications Data Center Equipment and Spaces. The participation fee is $7,000.
Unresolved is whether a data center should be treated the same as a central office, or whether data center equipment should be subjected to less-than-full NEBS requirements.
GR-63-CORE Issue 4 Acceptance
Verizon now accepts the GR-63-CORE Issue 4 testing, as detailed in this previous post. Issue 4 report templates will be available June 25. GR-63-CORE Issue 3 testing will no longer be accepted after October 31, 2012.
Verizon is seeking to trim the NEBS template to simplify the reporting, and has asked ITLs to assist in devising a new format.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is a priority for Verizon due to its direct effect on revenue.
Verizon has adopted the ATIS series documents for energy efficiency testing.
For the TEEER program, Verizon is considering allowing testing at the vendor’s facility due to the high cost of transporting large-scale systems to the test lab.
Lead-Free/RoHS
Verizon is working on a revision to the lead-free test requirements of VZ.TPR.9307 to make it less cumbersome and expensive.
The salt fog requirement of VZ.TPR.9307 for central office equipment is no longer applicable.
EMC/GR-1089-CORE
Verizon is working on a new TPR for wireless devices to be used in the central office, to test immunity of intentional radiators.
Verizon is seeing interference issues with DVRs, routers, and set -top boxes when they are being operated next to wireless devices, like cell phones and Wi-Fi equipment.
Verizon ITL Member Change
Garwood Laboratories is no longer a part of the Verizon ITL program.
Register for a complimentary MET Labs NEBS Testing Seminar in Dallas in October.
Involved in NEBS EMC compliance? Contact us for a free “Cheat Sheet” that details the updates in GR-1089-CORE Issue 6.
For NEBS Certification pricing and lead time, visit our Quote Center to fill out a RFQ or to have someone contact you.