Certified Premises Cabling Technician (CPCT)
Premises cabling, including what is called structured cabling, is a indoor cabling system designed to carry voice, data and video signals in a commercial or residential environment. Traditionally, cabling has focused on “Cat 5” unshielded twisted pair cable as used in Ethernet networks, but network architectures are changing. Since these cabling standards were first developed around 1990, networks have increased in speed 1,000 times, from 10 Mb/s to 10 Gb/s promoting the use of fiber, especially in backbone networks and workstation connections. And a new generation of users has become accustomed to “mobility” – using the latest generation of wireless networks, usually WiFi, with laptops, personal digital assistants and smart phones, to avoid being tethered to a desktop.
As a result, the technician looking to become trained in the proper installation of premises cabling must now know about three closely-related technologies: UTP copper, fiber optics and wireless. The FOA has many CFOTs already working with premises cabling, so the FOA has adopted the certification program of the Structured Cabling Association which already covers all three technologies, fiber, copper and wireless, and is offering a Specialty certification in premises cabling.
Unlike some training in premises or structured cabling, the FOA CPCT specialist will focus on understanding the technology and processes involved in fiber, copper and wireless, rather than focusing on wiring only and/or the rote memorization of the industry standards. These standards, developed by the TIA in the US and ISO internationally, are written for manufacturers, not installers or contractors, and it becomes the duty of those manufacturers to develop products and inform their customers about their proper usage. Contractors and installers need to focus on the components and how they are used to build premises network cabling systems properly.
