TIA – EMPOWERING THE NETWORK

Member Engagement in TIA Increases on NFV and IoT: A new working group led by experts from TIA member companies launched to address Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) security vulnerabilities through an NFV network security gap analysis, mapping of NFV security weaknesses, and launching an education campaign. TIA continued its leadership role in oneM2M, an international group of more than 200 companies developing specifications and standards for machine-to-machine communications, and serves as Chair of the Steering Committee. oneM2M published a new landmark set of specifications enabling basic connectivity between applications and devices, and expanding the number of devices in the IoT ecosystem.

TIA Joined White House Initiative to Advance Wireless Research: TIA partnered with US Ignite to provide technical expertise through its members, and industry awareness support for a new wireless broadband initiative. Led by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Advanced Wireless Research Initiative (AWRI) is aimed at advancing wireless technologies and services by up to 1000x over current wireless networks.

TIA’s 2016 Network of the Future Conference: Leaders from across the communications ecosystem gathered in Dallas, Texas for the annual TIA 2016 Network of the Future conference in June. 28 educational sessions focused on 5G, IoT, NFV and Cybersecurity, with more than 150 speakers providing insights about emerging topic areas of our industry.

TIA Advocacy Drives U.S. 5G Leadership and Innovation:Increasing spectrum is critical to expanding next generation wireless connectivity. TIA has been actively working to bring companies, policymakers and organizations together to ensure 5G is a national priority, and the U.S. continues to lead the world in wireless innovation. TIA played a critical role in shaping the FCC’s Spectrum Frontiers proceeding, which allocated new upper band spectrum for mobile use.

TIA Advising Lawmakers and Regulators: TIA was appointed to a number of key advisory posts including co-leadership of the FCC Communications Security Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) ‘security by design’ working group, the Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy, the 911 Location Accuracy Advisory Group, and the FCC Disability Advisory Committee.

FCC Grants Key TIA Public Safety Petition: The Federal Communications Commission granted a TIA petition for regulatory relief regarding the certification of public safety radio equipment. Absent TIA’s successful intervention, new unnecessarily burdensome FCC rules would have impeded public safety communications manufacturers from making advanced products available to their customers in a timely manner.

FCC Adopts TIA Consensus Agreement for Hearing Aid Compatibility: The FCC voted to approve final rules updating the required wireless Hearing Aid Compatibility benchmarks. The new rules follow a notice of proposed rulemaking that fully adopted a TIA-led consensus proposal from several industry organizations.

Spring Policy Summit Explored the Intersection of Policy and Future Communications Technologies: TIA held its annual Spring Policy Summit and honored FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel with TIA’s Spirit of Innovation Award. FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny provided a keynote address on the importance of security and privacy to foster consumer trust as we continue to connect millions of IoT devices. Panel discussions with high-level policymakers from Capitol Hill, the Administration, FCC, NIST and others discussed the future of broadband regulations, spectrum policy, cybersecurity, next-gen communications for public safety, IoT, and cross border data flows.

Raising the Voice of the Industry: TIA participated in many industry coalitions to shine a light on legislative efforts important to the technology and communications industry including Broadband for America, Trade Benefits America, and the Computer Science Education Coalition, and was part of a broad industry effort to influence the policy agendas of the presidential candidates.

New TIA-322 Standard Improves Communications in Tower Planning and Construction: TIA released the new, well-received standard to facilitate improved communication between engineers and contractors when planning and assessing tower construction. The ANSI/TIA-322, Loading Criteria, Analysis, and Design Related to the Installation, Alteration and Maintenance of Communication Structures standard now includes construction related loading, analysis and design requirements and will go into effect January 1, 2017. As with all initiatives of TIA Engineering Committees, TIA member volunteers helped shape the standard.

New Category 8 Cabling Specifications Approved for Publication: TIA published the standard defining the performance specifications for Category 8 cable. ANSI/TIA-568.C-2-1, Balanced Twisted-Pair Telecommunications Cabling and Components Standard, Addendum 1: Specifications for 100 Ohm Category 8 Cabling, focuses not only on the cable but also the components used, including the equipment outlet/connectors in Data Centers, equipment rooms and other spaces that need high speed applications. The standard also specifies field test procedures for use when installing cable.

Key Revision on Data Center Standard Underway: TIA’s TR-42 Engineering Committee began the revision to the TIA Data Center standard, starting work on TIA-942-B, Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers. The revision will roll up the specifications on data center fabrics, add Cat 8 and wideband multimode fiber as allowed cables, include recommendations for cabinet sizes, and recommends reducing the length of direct attach cables. This standard is the industry standard for Data Center design and is built to by most in the data center industry.

International Engagement Grows: TIA hosted many International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) meetings giving our members the tools to develop products that comply with both national and international standards. TIA facilitates the introduction of many processes and performance specifications from our TIA Engineering Committees into the international arena and they are adopted, thereby easing deployment of technology on a global scale.

Targeted Market Research Data: The TIA 2016-2020 ICT Market Review and Forecast (MR&F) is the industry’s most comprehensive data review, analysis and projection. The 20^th edition of the TIA MR&F looks at overall U.S. information and communications technology (ICT) spending based on expected performance of communications technologies, dividing them into the following four segments: Pacesetting Markets; Turnaround Markets; Steady State Markets; and Legacy Technologies and Services. It demonstrates the key role of TIA members in driving the global economy and innovation.

Identifying a Usage Shift in Enterprise IoT: The 2016 Internet of Things Enterprise Survey and White Paper identifies a significant usage shift as companies see IoT’s value in product performance, and provides a comprehensive look at the strategies and spending behind enterprise IoT. Commissioned by TIA and sponsored by Telit and InterDigital, the Machina Research survey includes viewpoints of two hundred senior executives, representing companies in all major categories of industry.

Covering the Latest Industry Trends: TIA NOW - TIA’s in-house production studio - released two full length documentaries in 2016 on cutting technologies impacting our industry: The Virtualization Revolution: NFV Unleashed launched in June, while the Internet of Things: Connecting it All launched during IoT Week at TIA this September. TIA NOW also produced a wealth of video interviews showcasing TIA member companies.

TIA and TelecomTV Launch the Innovation Xchange: TIA NOW and TelecomTV signed a partnership agreement to create a new online video platform – the Innovation Xchange, leveraging the TIA NOW TV studio, coupled with advanced Skype-In technology allows industry executives and thought leaders to participate in live, interactive panel discussions from around the world. Innovation Xchange combines the global distribution with more than 500K views per year by ICT professionals as well as market research and editorial oversight by the best editorial team in the industry.