Durable telecommunications infrastructure is not optional. Business requires it and there can’t be downtime. Consumers expect it and will change providers if service is not optimal.

Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) is an industry standard to ensure that infrastructure is built with the necessary tolerance for extreme conditions so reliability is not affected by natural disaster or “the perfect storm.”

The gold standard for equipment currently is NEBS Level 3 Certification, strict standards that ensure that carrier-grade equipment properly addresses safety, durability and operability.

NEBS Level 3 Certification is achieved when equipment meets all the requirements of GR-63-CORE and GR-1089-CORE documents, which outline standards that prevent malfunction and help equipment resist environmental factors that can cause network failure.

GR-63 outlines testing standards that equipment manufacturers should follow to ensure that equipment has been adequately put through its paces. These standards include testing against “extreme temperature and humidity, vibrations, airborne contaminants, minimize fire ignitions and fire spread, as well as provide for improved space planning, simplified equipment installation, and increased energy efficiency.”

Everything from circuit board design to chipsets and exterior device shells are affected by the testing specifications laid out in GR-63.

GR-1089, on the other hand, sets the bar for the durability of equipment. It outlines the ways in which devices should be able to avoid damage or interference from “lightning, 50/60-Hz commercial power fault conditions, Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), Electrical Fast Transient (EFT), Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), operation in the presence of a dc potential difference, and operation in a steady-state induced voltage environment.”

The standards set in GR-1089 assist engineers with building equipment that resists electrochemical erosion and less ideal power conditions, for instance.

Telecom platform and appliance deployment can be a challenge for any developer or technology provider as trends in the industry are constantly changing, deployment methods are expanding and new technologies are complicating the mix.

That’s why it is smart to work with firms that understand the latest standards, like NEI (News - Alert).NEI offers LEAD (Lifecycle Engine for Application Deployment System) as a way to handle some of the issues involved in getting an application to market, including NEBS compliance.

“Time to market is still a leading indicator for differentiation, and these providers often struggle to gain that competitive edge,” TMCnet author Susan Campbell has noted in the past. “When partnering with an appliance deployment provider like NEI, many of these challenges can easily be overcome.”