ATIS Announces New Standard on Solid Sawn-Wood Crossarms and Braces

March 11, 2009, Washington, DC - The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) announces the release of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard O5.3.2008: Solid Sawn-Wood Crossarms and Braces – Specifications and Dimensions. Developed by the ATIS-administered Accredited Standards Committee O5, this standard will be of vital interest to a diverse community of telephone and utility companies, as well as multiple municipalities responsible for providing communications and other public utilities.

ANSI O5.3.2008 updates an earlier standard issued in 2002. The specification applies to such uses as: communications crossarms, power crossarms, heavy-duty crossarms, and heavy-duty braces. Crossarms are intended for use as beams –typically attached to telephone/utility poles – and as struts or columns in braced designs.

ANSI 05.3.2008 concerns solid sawn-wood crossarms and braces manufactured from coastal Douglas-fir grown in the West Coast region (i.e. Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia, Canada); and from dense Southern pine of the following species: longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly, and slash pine.

“ANSI O5.3.2008 will ensure the continued structural integrity of a critical and time-tested component of the nation’s communications infrastructure. It is the most comprehensive crossarm standard to date, and marks an important step forward in Accredited Standards Committee O5’s work,” said Shannon Terrell, National Sales Manager, Brooks Manufacturing Co. and Chairperson of Accredited Standards Committee 05 Subcommittee on Crossarms.

The standard is available for purchase from the ATIS Document Center or from authorized third-party vendors.

About ATIS
ATIS is the leading technical planning and standards development organization committed to the
rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry. More than 300 companies actively formulate standards in ATIS’ 20 Committees, covering issues including: IPTV, Service Oriented Networks, Home Networking, Energy Efficiency, IP-Based and Wireless Technologies, Quality of Service, Billing and Operational Support. In addition, numerous Incubators, Focus and Exploratory Groups address emerging industry priorities including “Green”, IP Downloadable Security, Next Generation Carrier Interconnect, IPv6 and Convergence.

ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member and major U.S. contributor to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio and Telecommunications’ Sectors, and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, please visit www.atis.org.