Washington, DC – April 22, 2010   CCCA announced a new initiative to sample and test copper and fiber patch cords from commercial distribution channels for compliance to fire safety and electrical performance standards. This program follows CCCA’s program which evaluated compliance of communications cables to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) fire safety requirements and Telecommunications Industries Association (TIA) electrical performance standards. The previous evaluation program on communications cables identified major deficiencies and non-compliance of some lesser-known brands of cable produced offshore and imported into North America, resulting in strengthened quality assurance measures by UL.

Frank Peri, CCCA’s Executive Director said “Patch cord performance has been a major ongoing industry concern. Patch cords can be the weakest link in a network channel dragging down LAN speeds and increasing error rates. CCCA expects its testing to corroborate test results from others who have evaluated patch cord performance, but our main effort is to drive industry supported quality assurance programs that protect the user by significantly reducing the amount of non-compliant patch cords and cable assemblies on the market.”

CCCA indicated that the manufacturing process and quality assurance testing of patch cords and cable assemblies can be more daunting and complex than those for communications cable. Mr. Peri noted that, “Even if the base cable and connectors each meet component specifications, improper assembly and mating techniques can destroy channel performance.”

CCCA expects to publicly release the results of its patch cord evaluation program by early summer and, as with its program on non-compliant cables, to work closely with independent third-party organizations to establish better quality assurance programs.

About CCCA
CCCA, a non-profit corporation formed in 2007, has a mission to serve as the major resource for well researched, fact-based information on the technologies and products of structured cabling media to support current and future needs of the networking, IT and communications industries. CCCA is also proactive at codes and standards bodies and other