For Immediate Release
1200 G Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 202/628-6380 202/393-5453 (fax)	Contact: John Bernhards Director of Public Relations Phone: 202/434-8850 E-mail: jbernhards@atis.org

ATIS' Standards Committee T1 Releases New Spectrum Management Standard

July 31, 2001, Washington, D.C. - Standards Committee T1, sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), has announced the release of a high-profile American National Standard: "Spectrum Management for Loop Transmission Systems," T1.417-2001.

Developed by Committee T1's T1E1.4 working group on DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Access, the purpose of this standard is to facilitate a reasonable spectral environment in metallic subscriber loop cables such that multiple DSL technologies can be deployed without impaired operation due to crosstalk. It is intended for use by carriers to manage the loop plant and by manufacturers in the design of loop transmission systems.

"The publication of this standard marks the first step towards ensuring the friendly co-existence of multiple DSL technologies delivering access to advanced broadband services in an unbundled, competitive, multiple service provider environment," said T1E1 Chairman Ed Eckert, Catena Networks.

Spectrum management is the administration of the loop plant in a way that provides spectral compatibility for services and technologies that use pairs in the same cable. In order to achieve spectrum compatibility, the energy transferred between adjacent pairs of wires in cable bundles must not cause an unacceptable degradation in the performance of services and technologies on those wire pairs. This standard includes signal power limits and technology deployment guidelines for digital subscriber line spectrum management classes. It also provides a generic analytical method to determine spectral compatibility for existing as well as future systems.

The members of working group T1E1.4, who also develop the technical standards and reports for many DSL technologies, recognized the need for such work more than six years ago when a study project was launched. In Mid-1999, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), recognizing the lack of technical requirements upon which to base policy, consulted with and encouraged Committee T1 on the rapid development of a standard on Spectrum Management.

The current published version of T1.417-2001 assumes that the DSL system is deployed between a Central Office (CO) and a Customer Interface (CI). It is recognized that systems with intermediate transceiver unit (TU) devices between the CO and the CI can be deployed in a manner that substantially increases the likelihood of crosstalk interference.

Requirements for such intermediate TUs are the primary goal of the next publication of this standard for which work is aggressively underway. "The next version of this standard is on a very fast track, since it's requirements are imperative to ensure compatibility of services deployed from remote terminals with those deployed from the central office," said Chairman Eckert.

The document is available from the ATIS online Document Center at www.atis.org. For more information, please contact the Director of Industry Forums Jim Crandall at jcrandall@atis.org or 202-434-8855.

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Standards Committee T1 develops American National Standards, technical reports, and technical requirements for telecommunications services, network interconnection, interoperability, and performance. Committee T1 provides technical input to the United States Department of State supporting U.S. participation in international standards bodies. More than 1,500 telecommunications engineers and technologists bring their expertise to Committee T1's six technical subcommittees. Committee T1 is a founding member of the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) group of regional standards development organizations and works closely with the FCC on network reliability issues. Committee T1 is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). More information is available via the Committee T1 Web site at www.t1.org.

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) is a member company organization that defines standards and operating procedures for the telecommunications industry. Nearly 3,000 experts from 500 telecommunications companies participate in ATIS committees, whose work focus includes network interconnection standards, number portability, improved data transmission, wireless communications, Internet telephony, toll-free access, and order and billing issues. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) frequently refers operations issues to ATIS committees for recommended solutions. Members of ATIS and committee participants include, but are not limited to, telecommunications service providers, manufacturers, software developers, resellers, enhanced service providers, and providers of operations support.
Information on ATIS is available on the World Wide Web at www.atis.org

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