Pepro to showcase shielded outdoor networking cabinets

LAS VEGAS—Pepro this week will unveil its portfolio of new shielded networking cabinets that are designed for outdoor use with the company’s traditional Faraday-cage technology during IWCE 2014, according to company President Kelly Lander.

Lander said the specifications for Pepro’s new outdoor cabinets are expected to meet the needs of the proposed nationwide broadband network for public safety that is being built by FirstNet.

“It is a shielded, networking outdoor cabinet,” Lander said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “We started developing this over a year ago, when we saw the direction that FirstNet was moving—the push for low cost and the increased requirements for sites. If this is going to be rolled out for public safety, we believe that shielding needs to be a requirement—especially when they start talking about hardened sites. I believe that protection against any type of interference and against lightning should be a given.

“So, when we set out to design this, we wanted a low-cost alternative that would also provide the same shielding effectiveness as our more industrial-grade public-safety shelters and enclosures.”

Pepro has achieved these goals, with the new cabinet line exhibiting shielding traits that are comparable to Pepro’s existing shielded products, Lander said. The new cabinet product is National Electrical Manufacturers Associatoin (NEMA) 4X rated, meeting the standard for both waterproofing and corrosion resistance, according to company officials.

“Because it’s a Faraday cage enclosure, it will protect against direct and indirect effects of lightning,” Lander said.

In terms of cost, the new cabinet portfolio is in line with other cabinets on the market, including those that do not provide Pepro’s shielding capabilities, Lander aid.

“They’re comparable in cost to other cabinets that are on the market, and yet they provide the shielding,” she said. “Compared to the cabinets that are available now that we’ve been using for public-safety LMR sites, [the new cabinets are] about half the cost.”