Telecom Platform Deployment Featured Article

Intertek is a Verizon (News - Alert)-certified Independent Testing Laboratory (ITL) that completes testing at their Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) testing laboratories. The company tests to multiple requirements such as GR-63-CORE and GR-1089-CORE.

According to the company’s website, Intertek (News - Alert) is additionally authorized by Verizon to offer NEBS witness testing services at Verizon approved vendors' test facilities. NEBS certification is used to ensure equipment can work in a variety of harsh environmental conditions.

NEBS requirements can differ according to which telecom service providers are buying the equipment. A majority of the service provider specific requirements are based on the NEBS requirements included in both GR-63-CORE and GR-1089-CORE, but in certain situations, service providers may require additional testing that goes beyond the NEBS requirements.

The Telecommunications Carrier Group (TCG) was created to offer information to manufacturers and help to ensure that NEBS testing is uniform across the industry. The group has developed a NEBS Compliance Checklist that has specifications, objectives and requirements that are clearly highlighted to help manufacturers glide through the compliance process.

Intertek can test equipment to various NEBS standards including: GR-63-CORE, GR-487-CORE, GR-1089-CORE, GR-3108-CORE and NEBS Compliance Mark.

To show that certain equipment is NEBS compliant, the company will provide service providers with a NEBS Certification Mark. When this mark is displayed on a product, it is representing the fact that it is compliant with levels one, two, or three of the safety and performance testing criteria for NEBS standards GR-63-CORE, or GR-1089-CORE.

In order to obtain a compliance mark from Intertek, service providers must first contact company representatives and alert them that the product needs a NEBS Certification Mark to represent compliance, and then must sign the Intertek NEBS Labeling Agreement. Once the equipment is found to be fully NEBS compliant, a NEBS report along with a certification enabling the service provider to utilize the Intertek NEBS certification mark will be issued.