Sophisticated cabling is needed for high-tech trading operations

Real Estate Weekly, May 17, 1995 by James Goodman

Because of the importance of speed and reliability of power, trading desks require some of the most sophisticated circuitry in business today. Energy systems are constantly advancing to keep up with the quality and reliability needs of computer technology. One of these emerging technologies during the past five years has been "Category Level 5" cabling, which provides the fastest transmission speed available to date. While it is not new, it has become more widespread in the last two years because many investment banking firms have been upgrading their infrastructure. Category 5 classification requires the cabling to allow good transmissions of data at 100 Mhz (megahertz), compared to Category Level 4, which performs at 20 Mhz. Cable installations of this order must meet exacting specifications to pass such sophisticated requirements.

As specialty electrical contractors, L.K. Comstock often performs voice and data cabling installations on a fast track schedule to get clients on line quickly, since time equates to dollars. Voice and data cabling and testing requires a specialized team of highly-trained men who often install as much as several million feet of cable per project. While an average voice/data job takes three to four months to install cable for 250 traders, a portion of a project installing 250,000 feet of Category 5 cable was recently completed for Societe Generale in a 48 hour period - a highly difficult feat.

The entire project consisted of over 200,000 square feet of space, including one trading floor that contained 414 trading desks, five floors with 400 work stations for support personnel, and other office space. The project required installation and testing over two million feet of Category 5 four pair and 25 pair cable. In addition, 20,000 feet of fiber optic cable was installed and tested. The project was one of the largest Category Level 5 systems to be completed and tested in New York City.

At 1585 Broadway, a Morgan Stanley property, an "Inter-Rack Cabling" project was recently completed in 90 days. It involved the installation of Category 5 cabling with over 128,000 Category 5 terminations; 12 strand fiber optic cables with over 14,000 terminations; associated equipment and testing with computerized state of the art bi-directional testers.

Building owners and managers who market their properties to the investment community need to be fully aware of the demand for clean and reliable power as well as data cabling, which permits transmission of data at high speed. Moreover, the demand for advanced electrical circuitry to operate computers and local area networks (LAN) will continue to increase, as will standards of excellence. Anyone planning power upgrades for their property should seriously consider the various options and remember that in today's market, investment bankers and other companies dependent on fast data transactions demand the most sophisticated cabling systems and the highest quality installers.