Remote control and monitoring of telecommunication power systems a big challenge for telcos, suppliers and standardisation committees

Modern technology offers various means of remote access to Telecommunication Power Plants. Remote data management of telecom power has been developed to very powerful, complex and fully integrated systems with access to all levels of equipment and a great variety of data and functionalities. With continuously improving technical possibilities telcos, suppliers and standardisation committees are increasingly facing the problem of finding out which level of functionality is really necessary for an economical management of a power network, what is mandatory and where the threshold is to an oversized control and monitoring system. The main target is to improve availability and reduce maintenance and service costs for a telecom power network. Thinking about the restructuring of traditional telecom networks to modern data networks, the total number of sites with power equipment will grow fast in the next few years. To keep the overall lifetime cost down, intelligent and economical solutions for remote access are required, from all telcos around the world. Remote control and monitoring begins with an intelligent power module in combination with a suitable control unit. Starting from there, manydifferent approaches to remote control and monitoring can be found in the telco world. All of these solutions have their benefits and weaknesses. The paper will discuss the technical issues on site level as well as on the remote management network level. Typical technical requirements of the telcos are summarisedaswell astheir consequences on products, equipment performance, time to market and costs. It should be the interest of all telcos, suppliers and standardisation committees to find suitable standards, which cover the basic needsof the majority of telcos and can be extended to full size solutions, based on the same platform. Some attempts have already been madebutthe worldof remote control and monitoring of telecommunication power systems is still colorful.