Backbone Cabling System Provides Video-to-Desktop and ATM Capabilities

Nov 1, 1998 12:00 PM, Edited by Ellen Parson, Managing Editor

When Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah needed a cabling plant for its two new headquarters buildings and the nearly 1000 workstations inside them, the staff knew only a state-of-the-art solution would do. This required installing a communications infrastructure that would not only meet the company’s current needs, but also offer the capacity to handle new technologies, such as video-to-the desktop and ATM.

Since Regence BlueCross BlueShield needed so many workstation drops, the cabling and network infrastructure specialist recommended and supplied the buildings with almost 700,000 ft of cable. They chose cabling that included three Level 7 copper cable pairs and one fiber-optic pair running to each workstation. The unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable selected met the stringent Level 7 specifications, making it perfect for bandwidth-hungry applications. What’s more, the cable also supports multiple applications at different frequencies, as well as gigabit Ethernet at 100 m. The completely warranted solution includes Levels-certified cables, connectors, termination boxes and fiber-optic products from three manufacturers.

To ensure the company’s communications investment would truly perform, the manufacturer worked closely with Cache Valley Electric, the Salt Lake City-based contractor who installed the system.

In the end, the system design and installation more than exceeded the expectations of Regence BlueCross BlueShield. In fact, the company may duplicate the new cabling system in additional buildings. Regence BlueCross personnel have confidence that no matter what they plug into the system, it will work for years to come.