I have a little experience with this interpretation
by RBOCs having worked with contracts and compliance
testing as the compliance guy of a former company.
There's certainly people here with more experience
and history with this stuff than I.
The change began somewhere around 1995-96. I had a
small lab in the engineering department where I
personally did some of the more simple tests for
Bellcore. Specifically the RBOCs I worked with
were Ameritech, NYNEX, Southern Bell, Pac Bell ...
I had someone on the qualification survey team from
these places come in and witness the testing I did.
All was fine back then with accepting FCC Class A
and UL 1950 for Bellcore requirements.
I could estimate UL-1950, FCC Class A, EN60950,
EN55022A, EN50082 ... and the agreed upon Bellcore
stuff (we negotiated that) all could be done for
$25,000 for one product. The Bellcore results
I wrote up myself as deliverables for the RBOC.
< I'll wait until you guys stop laughing. >
Two problems arose. One was having UL testing
performed by an NRTL that was not UL. Thus,
with some customers, it was unfathomable that
a piece of equipment could be UL approved, NOT
have been tested at UL, and NOT have the classic
UL label showing compliance. I always ran into
this where ever I went.
Second, a change occurred whereby some of the RBOCs
got scammed or whatever (so I was told). This lead
to testing such as safety, environmental, shake
testing, flame spread ... to be done *** AT ***
important word there at, an NRTL. A lab that had
some sort of national accreditation, i.e. reputation.
In other words, in scanning the test results, the
customer could see that the testing was done at
some maybe famous lab, and well ... then it was
in like flint. FCC testing was still separate
from an NRTL lab.
I threw many wrenches back then about this. Some
of those wrenches landed on this newsgroup. Anywho,
I estimated that such testing off site would raise
from $25,000 to well over $100,000. This would
impact my budget, it would bleed over into cost
for the product and thus would obviously end up
with increased costs to the customers (RBOCs) and
finally, the increased costs would settle right in
their customers laps - i.e. you and me.
The heck with arguing about raising minimum wages.
We're talking increasing the overhead on developing
a product by a factor of times 4 overnight! I may
as well have been a chickadee blowing flowers in a
hurricane with that one, scuse my language.
I'm hearing that those same type of products on
which I used to spend only $25,000 to get through
compliance now costs somewhere on the order of
$160,000. And you as the mfr of that equipment
are totally out of the loop during the testing.
No more customizing some part of some test for a
customer by way of a phone call and doing the test
before running off to lunch.
Anywho, at that time there were some really good
people at the RBOCs. People who really knew their
stuff when it came to compliance and Bellcore.
And I could actually negotiate with them various
parts of the Bellcore tests to do.
They're almost gone now. And I fear some marketing
contract reviewer with a business degree is the only
person at some RBOC who checks off required testing
deliverables. And things like "NRTL" and "Class A"
don't mean a hoot to them ...
Sorry for the length.
Regards, Doug McKean
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