Underwriters Laboratories' (UL; www.ul.com) purchase of the rights and intellectual property associated with the Levels XP program from Anixter (www.anixter.com) this past spring vaults the testing organization into a more-visible position within the cabling industry.
"This move reinforces UL's commitment to providing premium testing solutions for the wire and cable industry, and expands our service capabilities even further for our clients," comments Steve Galan, wire and cable manager at UL's Melville, NY division.
UL now performs all Levels XP channel testing and certification at its XP lab at the Melville division. Anixter will continue to market and support Levels XP.
The Levels XP program includes active testing of installed cabling channels. Systems must pass the basic Levels program before being tested in the XP lab.
Galan says he anticipates that the five solutions that have passed Anixter's Levels XP program will continue to carry the Levels XP tag under UL. The five are: Avaya's Systimax; Belden-Panduit's Integrity system; Berk-Tek-Ortronics' NetClear system; Commscope-Siemon Co.'s Vision system; and Krone's TrueNet.
Galan indicated that the pool of vendors in the XP program may grow, pointing out that one unnamed cable manufacturer in particular is pursuing entry into the program. "Any changes that might be made to the program in the future will be to raise the bar," he says.
Random samples of products in the Levels XP program are tested four times per year. Galan explains, "Anywhere these products are being sold in the marketplace, we can acquire and test them to ensure they meet the performance requirements of our active testing."
Additional information on the UL Levels XP program is available at UL's Web site.—Patrick McLaughlin