NETWORK news December 2001/January 2002 Vol8 No6 AROUND THE GLOBE CONNECTING PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY D ecember 12, 2001 sees the end of our 20th anniversary year and we celebrate our 21st birthday. We have certainly attained our majority and come of age in the past 12 months. Besides receiving an Australian Electrical and Electronic Manu- facturers’ Association (AEEMA) award for ‘Excellence in Product Stewardship’. AEEMA also gave us special commendations for our work in Energy Efficiency and Commercialising R&D. Another accolade came from GIO when KRONE Australia won its Business Star of the Year Award in the Market Share category. This honour followed not long after the well-respected global research organisation, BSRIA UK, confirmed we had the lion’s share of the structured cabling market in Australia. We have achieved more than double the market share of our nearest competitor. Local skill and expertise in the design, development, testing, and marketing of innovative connectivity products has seen KRONE Australia become the self-sufficient organisation that we are today and our Berkeley Vale plant on the NSW Central Coast is the manufacturing Centre of Competence for the Asia Pacific region. We design and develop more than 75 per cent of the KRONE Group’s regional product requirements there and approx- imately 90 per cent of the product range for Australia. The last three months of 2001 have been tumultuous, as we have seen the world change and wage war against terrorism. The IT&T industry is suffering in the aftershock of job cuts and declines in profits. The travel and tourism industry is in decline. Despite the uncertainty of the moment, we are looking forward to the New Year and the challenges it will present. KRONE succeeds because of its people and its customers. I’m happy to report that we’re on track for strong results this year. As always, we will continue to strive to develop new technologies to meet your needs. 2002 will be no different. Thank you to our people, our partners and our customers for your support. We, at KRONE, wish you good health and prosperity for the future. Sincerely Craig Jones CEO 2 NETWORKnews Business Articles 5 A Solution for Every Need Customer Stories 4 City Rail Plays it Safe Standards and Industry News 12 Boosted Cable Performance Tests the Testers KRONE News 3 A Year of Milestones & Accolades 8 New Staff 8 On The Road with Optical Access 9 GIO andAEEMA Vote KRONE the best 10 KRONE’s International Success 13 Access NET Hightime Seminars 16 Club KRONE Product News 6 Product Watch 14 Lightning Charges Towards Networks Website: www.krone.com.au Email: kronehlp@krone.com.au CONTENTS networknews@krone.com.au Copyright © 2001 KRONE Australia Holdings Pty. Limited WE COME OF AGE NETWORKnews 3 First Quarter: January - March 6 Premis NET HIGHLIGHT ® fibre cable is introduced 6 Club KRONE introduces bonus redemption points against training 6 Club KRONE website is launched Second Quarter: April - June 6 HighTIME Conference held in Port Douglas 6 TrueNet demonstrated at BiCSi and Networld+Interop, Sydney 6 Premis NET Intelligent Building solution showcased at AEEMA Cleaner, Greener Smarter Conference 6 Win $20 million Telstra Customer Access Network contract 6 Participate in the Copper Development Council’s Smart Wired House Project 6 UK BSRIA Report confirms our leadership position in the Australian structured cabling systems market 6 2000/2001 Catalogue available Third Quarter:July - September 6 MASTERminder™ rack mountable cable minder launched 6 Five-ring Patch Cord Minder introduced 6 Fibre range expanded for Access NET and Premis NET customers 6 KRONE appointed Australian distributor for Optical Access wireless solutions 6 Club KRONE introduces online redemption 6 TrueNet demonstrated at Networld+Interop, Melbourne Fourth Quarter: October - December 6 Fibre and Optical Wireless products on show at Optical Networking Conference, Sydney 6 All products on show at Canberra Trade Day 6 Win GIO Business Star of the Year Award in the Market Share category 6 Win AEEMA Award for Excellence in Product Stewardship 6 Win AEEMA Special Commendations for excellence in Energy Efficiency and Commercialising R&D 6 All KRONE products certified as A-Tick compliant 6 AirLAN ™ wireless LAN family launched 6 BROADWAY ™ 4 home cabling system introduced 6 TrueNet ™ Cat 6 Patch Cords available 6 ComProtect ™ over-voltage product launched A YEAR OF MILESTONES AND ACCOLADES T he safety of the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use Sydney’s CityRail network is of paramount importance to the management team at the State Rail Authority (SRA). Vandalism and/or anti-social behaviour is a major concern. Philips Projects Australasia (now Tyco Integrated Systems) was one of the successful bidders for the highly contested contract for what is the largest project of its type in the world. In all, more than 5,700 CCTV cameras have been installed at 302 CityRail stations and major CityRail precincts such as commuter car parks and bus interchanges. Images from all cameras are recorded at two frames per second, 24 hours a day. This huge volume of data is maintained by a digital recording and storage system that provides reliable, high quality images for use in legal prosecution proceedings. An intranet network links each of the CityRail stations. Monitoring of the system (including live video) can take place from designated remote control room locations. The success of the CCTV rollout was evident during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when the cameras were effectively used for security and crowd control. John Freeland, Philips’ Site Supervisor for SRA said of TERMINATOR: “ One particular advantage of the KRONE TERMINATOR system was the ability to add fuse protection with indication to the camera supply circuits when required without having to change terminals and wiring.” “ KRONE’s TERMINATOR was the cabling termination solution specified by Philips Projects,” said Greg Lankow, Managing Director of systems integrator, Eurovac. “ Prior to the CityRail project, we had no experience with the product and, as a first time user, found it extremely easy to use. It actually halves the length of time we would normally have spent on stripping the wires down and connecting them to terminals. “ From an ongoing maintenance point of view, fusable links can be easily monitored. There are test points on the KRONE block where a probe may be inserted to determine the voltage and gauge the density of the signal. Before TERMINATOR, we would have had to pull wires out and test each one individually,” said Mr Lankow. “ We were so impressed by all the features the KRONE TERMINATOR system offers - and the fact that it is an Australian-manufactured product - that we are now specifying it for our other CCTV sites, particularly in the hotel security area.” 4 NETWORKnews WITH TERMINATOR ® CITYRAIL PLAYS IT SAFE by Jeff Glen, Manager, KRONE Australia’s Power & Control Division “ We were so impressed by all the features the KRONE TERMINATOR system offers that we are now specifying it for our other CCTV sites.” NETWORKnews 5 O ur Premis NET solutions are classified in Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. By having four categories of Premis NET solutions, we aim to match people’s technical requirements with their financial expectations. For instance, we offer 20-year warranties. Realistically, if you manage the network in an organisation with a two-year lease on a floor in a building, why would you need a 20-year warranty? Our Premis NET Bronze level is a standards- compliant, Cat 5E solution. If you don’t have a huge dependence on IT, or don’t have an upgrade plan, the bronze plan is probably fine for you. Maybe you are a small organisation with no desire to move from 10 megabit Ethernet. We would then offer a cost- effective, bronze level solution that met your technical requirements. The Silver level is still standards-compliant to Cat 5E but we call it ‘Cat 5ET (the T standing for TrueNet) ™ . Our TrueNet systems (silver and platinum levels) have cable and connector components that have been impedance matched. Therefore we can offers the customer a five-year warranty during which time we will guarantee zero bit error rate in the network. It’s a step up from the basic Cat 5E solution. At the gold and platinum end, if you are a large organisation that owns its premises - a good example would be a university or corporate headquarters - you are committed for the long term and probably have a high dependence on IT. If the majority of your users are still using 10megabit of Ethernet but you have a planned migration within two years to Gigabit Ethernet, Voice over IP and videoconferencing, then you would want to install the best premium products available. ‘Gold’ is a standards-compliant Cat 6 solution. As yet, there is no approved standard for Cat 6 but some customers still strive for that level of performance. Our gold level solution conforms to the proposed Cat 6 standard as we know it today. The next level is our ‘Platinum’, Cat6T solution (again, the T is for TrueNet). This gives all the electrical parameters that we know for Cat 6 and comes not only with a 20- year parts, labour and service warranty but also carries a five- year throughput warranty guaranteeing zero bit error rate performance. For more information or to taylor a solution to your needs, contact your KRONE representative in your State. by Peter Davis Sales and Marketing Manager KRONE Australia A SOLUTION FOR EVERY NEED KRONE’s Premis NET ™ structured cabling solutions take into account the differing needs of our customers and provide unrivalled flexibility and reliability for every type of network demand. PREMISNET By having four categories of Premis NET solutions, we aim to match people’s technical requirements with their financial expectations. KRONE is A-Tick OK All telecommunications equipment must carry the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) A-Tick mark. It has been introduced to give consumers confidence that a telecommunications product meets the safety and technical standards set by the ACA. The ACA warns that use of products that don’t carry the A-Tick label is not only unsafe and potentially damaging to the network, but that penalties may also be imposed. All components of our Premis NET and Access NET solutions carry the A-Tick mark in accordance with ACA regulations and our Product Compliance Folders are easily accessible at our Berkeley Vale headquarters. Platinum C6T TrueNet TM CAT 6T Ultimate system efficiency and future proofing Gold C6 CAT 6/CLASS E Channel Future proofing for Gigabit Ethernet and beyond Bronze C5e CAT 5e/CLASS D - 2000 Powersum Compliant Components Silver C5eT TrueNet TM CAT 5eT Maximum system efficiency for Gigabit Ethernet 6 NETWORKnews THE WIRELESS LAN FOR ALL ENTERPRISES Workers on the move, whether they are in large or medium enterprises, small business or SOHO situations, can all benefit from KRONE’s new broadband wireless local area network (LAN) solution, AirLAN ™ . We’ve expanded our Premis NET product portfolio into the wireless area and AirLAN will provide mobile workers with access to e-mail, the Internet and business networks. AirLAN is designed as a competitively priced, easy-to-install, plug-and-play solution that enables communication from anywhere in a building, at any time. Based on the IEEE 802.11b standard for wireless communications, there are three products in the KRONE AirLAN family: the Access Point acts as a bridge between wireless and Ethernet networks; the PC Card for mobile notebook computers allows the user to access in-home or corporate networks when combined with the Access Point; and the USB Adapter plugs into the desktop PC, enabling the mobile computer user wireless access to the home PC or network when combined with the Access Point. All three products can be used together to provide expanded wireless communications. The key benefit of the AirLAN family is that mobile notebook users have the freedom to move from room to room, or floor to floor, while still maintaining a high-speed, 11Mbps wireless connection to the business or SOHO local area network. It is a quick and easy-to-install; plug-and-play solution that minimises the potential of tangled cabling The AirLAN family is ideal for: small office/home office (SOHO) operators, difficult-to-wire buildings, frequently changing environments, mobile users within a corporate network, and areas that don’t need permanent access to a LAN. AirLAN’s operating system supports Windows 95/98/NT/2000ME. The product’s external operating range covers140 metres at 11Mbps, 200 metres at 5.5Mbps and 400 metres at 1Mbps. Inside the building, at close office range, AirLAN reaches 30 metres at 11Mbps, 35 metres at 5.5Mbps and 50 metres at 1Mbps. PRODUCT WATCH BUSINESS OR HOME, KRONE COVERS IT ALL by Glen Johnston, Product Development Manager, KRONE Australia NETWORKnews 7 KRONE’S NEW BROADWAY STAR BROADWAY ™ 4 is a home wiring system that links four rooms or areas in the home with phone, fax, printer and computer lines, as well as broadband signals for cable and free-to-air TV, giving residents the ultimate in flexibility for their information and entertainment needs. We have seen SOHO businesses emerge as a solid market force. BROADWAY 4 was designed to meet the specific needs of this residential market. The features included in our BROADWAY 10 and 5 products - for larger-sized residences and apartments - have been incorporated into BROADWAY 4, and fine-tuned to suit families with students or a home business, or both. Designed to complement the décor of most homes, BROADWAY is a cavity wall-mounted control box that achieves Category 5e transmission performance. It can be situated in a cupboard, under the stairs, in a garage or cellar - anywhere the resident decides will give easy access for the simple plug-and-play redirection of signals to different areas of the home. When combined with a hub, BROADWAY 4 delivers an instant Ethernet networking system. All that is visible in the four designated areas within the residence is the neat wall outlet (similar to those seen in most offices) into to which your communication device (telephone, computer, TV, VCR) plugs. One distinct advantage of KRONE’s BROADWAY range is that it allows new technologies, like optical fibre services to be added later. By installing BROADWAY 4, the owner is future-proofing the home for the future requirements of the family and SOHO business, with the extra benefit of adding value to the property. TRUEPATCH GIVES DIY CAT 6 PERFORMANCE A Category 6 version has been added to our TruePatch ™ family of patch cords. Patch cords are the most overlooked component in the cabling infrastructure system. However, our test laboratories show that the overall performance of the network can be improved simply by replacing existing patch cords with the high-performance, impedance- matched TruePatch product. - and the IS team can do it themselves. TruePatch is a vital part of our revolutionary TrueNet cabling channel. In many installations, cabling is installed as a link only, and the user adds patch panels as needed - or patch cables are added to the installation over time as needs change or older cords fail. In either case the effect of mismatched or marginal cords on network throughput can be disastrous. TruePatch patch cords are tuned to match all components in the TrueNet channel for optimum throughput. A frustrating reality of the advance of technology is that new innovations tend to make the previous generation of equipment obsolete. Fortunately, network managers can realise some of the benefits of KRONE’s TrueNet system simply by adding TruePatch patch cords to their existing installations. Manufactured at KRONE’s plant on the NSW Central Coast, TruePatch Cat6T patch cords are the best Cat 6 solution available, fulfilling Cat 6 requirements according to the relevant ISO/IEC and TIA/EIA standards. 8 NETWORKnews T revor Kleinert has been appointed as our National Sales Manager - PremisNET and Terry Buckridge joins us as New South Wales Sales Manager -Premis NET . Brendan Giles also has been recruited to the NSW sales team. Trevor was previously our Business Development Manager, Fibre Optics and will continue with his responsibility for that area for the time being. He brings to his new role 17 years’ experience in the industry across the areas of sales and marketing and product management and development; he has been particularly involved in the fibre optics area for the past seven years. Trevor holds a BiCSi RCDD accreditation as a registered com-munications distribution designer and has been involved in standards and technical panels for BiCSi in Australia and the USA. Terry Buckridge returns to the fold after spending four years as a Business Development Manager for two of our KRONE endorsed installers. This experience will help us improve our service to our customers. Terry was previously a sales executive with our ACT office and originally joined us after managing a cabling installation contracting company. Brendan Giles, our new NSW sales executive, brings with him ten years’ experience in various sales management positions for distributors and integrators in the data communications industry. W e took to the road recently and exhibited our Optical Access products at the Optical Networking Australia conference in Sydney and held our own Trade Day in Canberra. Zeev Draer, International Sales Director of KRONE partner, Optical Access, came to Australia for both events and gave a presentation on Free Space Optical networks (FSO) and showed how his company is deploying FSO technology in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two-day Optical Networking conference was well attended and showed the increased interest in the subject as companies sought to assess the future of intelligent optical networking and learn about the key economic and technical issues in developing and deploying the all-optical network. In Canberra, we had a chance to meet around 100 customers and suppliers and we were able to show them: our revolutionary TrueNet solution - the first end-to-end cabling system specifically designed to prevent throughput loss in local area networks; our HIGHLIGHT fibre portfolio and the Optical Access range of optical wireless and advanced switching and routing solutions; our Premis NET range of RJ solutions, patch panels jacks, patch cords, cable and cable management products; and our SOHO and Small Business solutions comprising the BROADWAY home cabling management system and the MiniLAN mini patching cabinet for small workgroups. We also used the occasion to introduce AirLAN, our new broadband wireless local area network (LAN) family of products. (See story on page 6) TAKING KRONE TO YOU NEW NATIONAL AND NSW MANAGERS FOR OUR PREMISNET TEAM by Peter Davis, Sales and Marketing Manager, KRONE Australia ON THE ROAD WITH OPTICAL ACCESS Syd Can Sydney/Canberra Terry Buckridge New South Wales Sales Manager - Premis NET NETWORKnews 9 O ctober was a rewarding month for KRONE Australia. We won the GIO Business Star of the Year Award in the category of Market Share and, for the second year in a row, we received an Excellence Award from the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (AEEMA) - this time it was for Product Stewardship. AEEMA also gave us Special Commendation Certificates for our work in Energy Efficiency and Excellence in Commercialising R&D. We were one of only seven Australian companies to be so honoured. The 2000/2001 GIO Business Stars Programme, conducted through the prestigious National Business Bulletin magazine, called for nominations from fast-growing Australian companies with annual sales of seven figures or more over the past decade. More than 400 submissions were received. Philip Thomson, Director of National Business Magazines and the GIO Awards judging panel, said: “ With virtually all fixed telephone lines in Australia using KRONE products and virtually every significant office building wired with KRONE connectors, the company is a worthy winner of the Business Star of the Year Market Share Award.” The GIO Business Star Award is certainly appropriate and much appreciated, coming just after the respected UK BRSIA research organisation in its Report into the structured cabling market in Australia confirmed that KRONE Australia has the lion’s share of the sector, which is more than double that of our nearest rival. With regard to the AEEMA accolades, it is gratifying to receive such an acknowledgement from our peers. Winning the AEEMA Excellence Award in Product Stewardship is a testament to our dedication to Australian-designed, developed and manufactured products. More than 75 per cent of all KRONE product sold in Australia meets this criteria. A further 15 per cent of products are made in Australia under licence. What’s more, 80 per cent of KRONE’s automated machinery is made in Australia and a high portion of that by our own in-house engineers. We are committed to best practices in every aspect of the product lifecycle. This is reflected in KRONE’s adherence to ISO 9001 quality procedures and ISO 14001 standards for Environmental Management Systems. All saleable products have to pass through a stringent seven-step milestone process and only then are released into the market. Every possible consideration is given to environmental impacts in this process. Products are made completely from recyclable materials, as is all packaging. All cardboard packaging is made from 100% recycled material and the packaging is re-engineered to reduce the amount of cardboard used. GIO AND AEEMA VOTE KRONE THE BEST by Craig Jones, CEO, KRONE Australia Thanks team I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate our people at KRONE - from R&D and product development right through to production, manufacturing, supply and sales administration. It is their commitment to excellence that has resulted in our reputation for quality products and service. These awards belong to them. KRONE honoured by industry accolades for its Product Stewardship and Market Share. KRONE CEO, Craig Jones accepting his award from Senator Marise Payne. We are committed to best practices in every aspect of the product lifecycle. I n 140 countries, KRONE provides solutions for companies ranging from network operators and industry leaders to medium-sized operators and small enterprises. In the case of Access NET , these include world- renowned telecommunications companies such as the United States’ largest carrier, Verizon, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, China Telecom, France Telecom and our own Telstra. WALKING WITH DINOSAURS Our Optical Access products were instrumental in providing the network technology used by UK company, Framestore, for its work on the BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs TV series. Recreating 155 million years of prehistory, most of it in ‘virtual reality’, required awesome computing power. Framestore, which created the digital images and computer animation, had to deal with a huge amount of data - creating a single scene might result in a 200 MB file at 1.5MB per frame. Several servers on a multi-site network might be running all night to process up to 12,000 frames by morning and Optical Access provided the switching technology and fibre-driven backbone to move this immense payload of information. WHEN HOLLYWOOD CALLS In the field of structured cabling, we can boast equally high-profile connections. For instance, Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks SKG animation studio boasts a powerful KRONE network infrastructure. Digital animation requires enormous computing capacity over fast networks and KRONE supplied an infrastructure that keeps the animators focused on drawing the next blockbuster, without worrying about network capacity going bust. LINKING WITH HISTORY One address, steeped in history and religion and instantly recognised throughout the world, is the Vatican City in Rome. Behind its solid, ancient walls, a Premis NET solution is installed 10 NETWORKnews KRONE’S INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS CONNECTING PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY Shane McIntosh Export Manager, KRONE Australia [...]... case we need it Scott also pointed out that, aside from online redemption, Club KRONE membership is important for NewsCom “ It keeps us abreast of what is happening in the industry via your newsletter, Network News - and I particularly like getting the technical updates and new product releases via your e-mail bulletins.” NewsCom is based in Bayswater a suburb of Melbourne It has 20 people, including... use - the compact over-voltage protection plug is simply attached to the KRONE disconnection or sw itching module It is also possible to retrofit ComProtect to existing KRONE distribution equipment The KRONE range of overvoltage products is suited to the latest applications w ith high transmission rates such as ASDN and xDSL Besides ComProtect, it.also includes various arrestor magazines for over-voltage... components of KRONE s patented LSA-PLUS and/ or LSA PROFIL distribution systems M DF 71 and other related dropw ire and PCB modules are also available ONLINE REDEMPTION ITS EASY SAYS NEWSCOM Club KRONE member, New sCom is right behind online redempt ion because it is f ast , easy and t he rew ards are great by M ark M eyer M anager Club KRONE “ In the past, we were probably lazy,” said Scott Ellard of NewsComm... many communication networks and in measurement and control applications The protective circuits guard against electrical influences due to lightning or power contact, discharging them on impact 3 Stage/ 5 point a a' GDT b Line KRONE ComProtect graded 5-point protection b' Syst em For more information about KRONE s network protection technology and other products and services call your KRONE representative... universities such as the six Melbourne-based institutions, schools and technical colleges; they also do commercial fit-outs for customers such as Westfield KRONE s 2001/ 2002 Product Catalogue Most of you will already have received a copy of the latest KRONE Product Catalogue We trust you have found the new format easier to use than ever, allowing quick reference to KRONE product information T support... the earth, like a pebble thrown into the centre of a pool This means that networks located within a radius of one or more kilometres away from the 14 NETWORKnews site of impact can be affected The annual damage caused by this in Australia is estimated to be millions of dollars Lightning often enters a network via the customer local-loop, normally between streetside telecommunications cabinets and office... technologies In the deregulated telecoms markets, new network operators are creating their own infrastructures with proven KRONE technology In emerging markets, such as South America, Asia and Africa, KRONE is at the forefront, reflecting the new dynamism of these economies with state-of the art installations that lay the groundwork for the future With our network of subsidiaries, four development and seven... level, PremisNET solution, and network area Access the Online Catalogue in the same way as the old version From the KRONE. com.au home page just click on the “ Product Catalogue” link on the left hand side navigation menu Of course, the hard copy version is still available For your copy contact us through the offices listed below HEAD OFFICE KRONE NSW KRONE VIC/ TAS KRONE WA 2 Hereford Street BERKELEY... session, Robert talked about the reliability of KRONE connectivity compared to that of competitors in the marketplace Recent laboratory test clearly confirms the superiority of the KRONE LSA Plus connection technique Should you wish to have a more in-depth discussion on this subject, we would be pleased to share the findings of test with you The seminar ended with KRONE s T echnical Manager, Peter Meijer,... Robert Cross NETWORKnews 13 LIGHTNING CHARGES TOWARDS When light ning st rikes it blackens corporat e reput at ions as w ell as propert y and sensit ive t elecommunicat ions equipment Net w ork dow nt ime caused by light ning damage can aff ect cust omer service, eroding conf idence and revenues by Robert Cross, National Sales M anager AccessNET, KRONE Australia T he issue of protecting networks from . 5000 Ph: (08) 82 36 0111 Fax: (08) 8232 66 99 KRONE WA Suite 46, Como Corporate Centre 11 Preston Street COMO WA 61 52 PH: (08) 9474 66 00 FAX: (08) 9474 3898 TOLL. Seminars 16 Club KRONE Product News 6 Product Watch 14 Lightning Charges Towards Networks Website: www .krone. com.au Email: kronehlp @krone. com.au CONTENTS networknews @krone. com.au Copyright