The business of connector standards

Stephen M. Hardy

Editor in Chief

Do you want a tip on a facet of fiber optics that`s really going to be hot in the short term? Here it is: custom cabling. In particular, I`m talking about cabling that will let you mate, say, a premises wiring system that uses one of the new small-form connectors with a router that uses a different one. There are now five versions of these connectors loose on the market today--and thanks to the inability of the standards community to overcome business interests, it looks as if end-users will be forced to patch among these incompatible connectors for some time to come.

If you`ve been keeping up with the Telecommunication Industry Association`s efforts to investigate small-form connectors as part of the ongoing tia/eia-568b Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard discussions, you can be forgiven for feeling a bit dizzy. The TR-41.8.1 Working Group looked at all five connectors in detail, overwhelmingly selected the mt-rj as the single standard-bearer for the technology, then decided not to support its use in the same role as the 568SC duplex connector enshrined in tia/eia-568a. You also may be wondering what the heck happened--a question we`ve attempted to answer in this issue (see "tia lets the connector market decide" on page 44).

As our article illustrates, there are several potential explanations for the current state of affairs. There appears to be merit in the suggestion that these connectors were evaluated too early in their evolution. As the saga of the 568SC points out, it frequently takes a long time for standards bodies to accept a new technology--and having finally accepted the SC only a few short years ago, some working group members may have been reluctant to change course in favor of a technology that in most cases is only now getting to market. The fact that the method of implementing the technology into the standard had not been determined may have introduced an uncomfortable level of uncertainty among members who didn`t have complete faith in small-form designs. The notion that standardizing the 568SC at the wall and leaving open everything behind it also plays into a "just like copper" trend now seen in other aspects of fiber-optics application.

The explanation that I have the most trouble with is the call for laissez faire--let the market decide. The reason? Most of the people who are calling for an open standard are the same ones who earlier were competing to be part of a closed standard--and whose change of heart coincided exactly with the vote in San Antonio that dropped them out of the running. "All I know is that I`ve seen manufacturers doing the politics stuff," says one observer with whom I spoke. "It`s just a shame that they had to go through this whole façade, when they could have agreed upon this to begin with--have it performance-based now."

I asked someone from the "market forces" camp about the apparent flip-flop his company had made on the issue. Why had they vigorously pursued possibly becoming one of a handful of connectors to be incorporated in a new standard if they were really in favor of opening the standard to everyone?

"It was just good business," the source replied.

And if you`re looking for the theme of the small-form standard story, I think you`ll find it in that statement. While fiber has yet to make its promised inroads into the premises market, that promise continues to shine brightly. The companies behind the five connector competitors have potentially millions of dollars riding on their product lines. So it was good business to have the small-form connectors become part of the -568B standard; it would have been even better business for some lucky companies if their connectors made it into the standard; and it became best business to keep the standard open when all but one connector fell out of the running early in the process.

It`s possible, as some market proponents suggest, that an open standard will spur innovation and eventually result in a de facto standard that bodies such as the Telecommunications Industry Association will adopt in the future. In the meantime, "business" has left the user community with some decisions to make--and has given the adapter cable companies the feeling that business will be good.