TIA Committee Vice-Chair Explains Plan to Consolidate Cabling Standards

TR-42.1 Vice Chair Cindy Montstream goes into detail describing the rationale behind, and practical impacts of, consolidating 3 TIA standards into 1.
Dec. 5, 2025

We recently had the opportunity to interview Cindy Montstream, who holds several positions within the Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) TR-42 Telecommunications Cabling Systems Engineering Committee. One of those positions is Vice Chair of the TR-42.1 Subcommittee that currently is working to consolidate 3 cabling standards into 1. Watch this in-depth discussion in which Cindy explains why the TIA decided to initiate this project; the practical impacts of the consolidation on cabling system designers, installers, and users; the TIA’s anticipated timeline for the project’s progress; and more.

About the Author

Patrick McLaughlin

Chief Editor

Patrick McLaughlin, chief editor of Cabling Installation & Maintenance, has covered the cabling industry for more than 20 years. He has authored hundreds of articles on technical and business topics related to the specification, design, installation, and management of information communications technology systems. McLaughlin has presented at live in-person and online events, and he has spearheaded cablinginstall.com's webcast seminar programs for 15 years.

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