scope:

This standard covers the minimum temperature, humidity, altitude, and salt fog criteria for telecommunications network equipment to be installed and utilized by service providers in Outside Plant (OSP) environments. These environments include those found in OSP cabinets, enclosures, pedestals, etc., as well as those outside of protective enclosures. Test methodologies and test report criteria necessary for proper evaluation by interested parties and those intending to deploy equipment in such environments are also provided.

This document defines Environmental Classifications based on the temperature, humidity, altitude, and salt fog ranges in which the equipment must operate, and provides test methodologies to evaluate equipment operation in those environments. Based on the intended usage, network equipment could be placed in one or more of the "Environment Classifications".

The expectation is that equipment will continue to function properly and without any unexpected degradation of performance when placed in these environments. Regardless of the operational environmental classification, equipment is expected to function properly after exposure to other environmental stresses, such as operational altitude and storage/transportation temperature-humidity. The test criteria defined in this document apply to all equipment.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide the end-users, manufacturers, test labs, etc., a means of testing OSP equipment to the expected environmental conditions encountered in normal deployment.