Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1156106
October/November/December 2019 I 35 An increasing percentage of this type of network service is being shifted to operational technology (OT) and provided over Wi-Fi or wireless LAN (WLAN). How- ever, this wireless service needs a lot of wires in the LAN (Figure 1). Since this twisted-pair copper infrastructure is hidden from public view, IT administrators tend to forget what is required on the back-end of these networks to make for a great QoE, especially when a large number of people are using the network simultaneously in venues, such as classrooms, auditoriums, large corporate cam- puses, and stadiums. To ensure that cabling facilities can successfully handle these high-performance video streaming demands, the LAN is expected to function like a utility-grade infra- structure (UTG). The LAN is now considered the "fourth utility" in the building, joining water, gas, and electricity. Just like when the lights go out, people become very con- cerned and upset if they cannot get access to the internet. ISSUES AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY OF HIGH-SPEED ICT WIRELINE NETWORKS The ICT industry has been providing video streaming services for many years with varying success rates when using twisted pair in facilities. In 2006, AT&T was an early adopter in the consumer distribution and deploy- ment of advanced networking services on a mass scale with its U-verse IPTV service in Texas; it operated like a managed intranet. However, that platform has been essentially abandoned for an over-the-top (OTT) version called DIRECTV NOW that uses the public internet. In 2016, AT&T renamed its U-verse internet service to AT&T Internet; its IPTV service is referred to as U-verse TV. Even with tightly controlled specifications, short- ened loops, proprietary equipment, and a trained work- force with appropriate test sets, many QoE issues still occurred that were caused by electromagnetic interfer- ence (EMI), including complete outages and, in some cases, damage to equipment. While most of the latter situations occurred during electrical storms, it was the induced power surges caused by lightning disturbances hitting the power lines that inflicted most of the damage, just like it had for a business in Texas in May 2019 (Figure 2). FIGURE 2: Sign posted on a fast-food restaurant door: May 4, 2019 FIGURE 1: The network may be Wi-Fi or WLAN, but there are a lot of wires in wireless.