CommScope Offers Outdoor Hydrogen Backup Power Solution For Businesses

Small-to- Medium Enterprises Benefit From Up to 16 Hours of Clean Backup Power
February 10, 2014 HICKORY, N.C.,

Outdoor Hydrogen Fuel Cell CabinetCommScope, Inc.,a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, now offers its hydrogen fuel cell solution to provide reliable backup power for small-to-medium enterprises in North America.

CommScope’s outdoor cabinet fuel cell solution can provide up to 16 hours of reliable, environmentally-friendly backup power to enterprise core business computing systems. This is enabled through an existing partnership with Hydrogenics Corporation, a worldwide leader in designing, manufacturing, building and installing industrial and commercial hydrogen systems around the world.

“Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, have shown us that traditional backup power generators can be unreliable when put through the test of time and exposure to the elements,” said George Brooks, senior vice president, Enterprise Product and Market Management, CommScope. “These generators are commonly powered by fossil fuels and emit greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide. As fuel prices continue to fluctuate, businesses are searching for an alternative that is more reliable and has less of an impact on the environment.”

CommScope’s hydrogen fuel cell solution converts chemical energy directly into electrical energy without any combustion. The system provides highly efficient, reliable and uninterrupted backup power for commercial building systems without the need for costly regular maintenance. It does not emit any greenhouse gases and the only by-products are heat and a small amount of water.

“This is a smart fit for businesses, such as banks, large retailers and other commercial buildings needing something they can count on to keep their business systems operational, without interruption, anytime there is a loss in power,” Brooks said. “Hydrogen fuel cell technology not only has a lower total cost of ownership, but provides an opportunity to meet sustainability goals through an alternative power solution that is clean, quiet and runs on an abundant resource. Hydrogen is safer than fossil fuels and I’m confident we will see more uses for it in the coming years.”

The proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells are housed inside an outdoor environmentally secure cabinet, about the size of a phone booth, with a smaller footprint than other solutions currently available on the market.

This alternative-energy solution already has been deployed in the telecommunications industry. Last year, CableLabs®, the non-profit research and development consortium for the cable television industry, deployed the solution to provide 16 hours of reliable, environmentally friendly backup power to its head-end and cable modem termination system at its headquarters in Louisville, Colo. In 2011, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers deployed a similar solution to provide backup power to its data center at its headquarters in Exton, Pa. That hydrogen fuel cell solution was called into service during Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. During the severe weather, the fuel cell provided sufficient backup power until normal power was restored.

CommScope will also expand its extensive PartnerPRO™ Network to include partners who will assist customers with site planning, installation, commissioning and on-going maintenance of the backup power solution.

For more information on CommScope’s outdoor fuel cell solution, visit: http://www.commscope.com/Solutions/Enterprise-Solutions/Intelligent-Building-Solutions/Business-Continuity-Solutions/

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About CommScope

CommScope (www.commscope.com NASDAQ:COMM) has played a role in virtually all the world’s best communication networks. We create the infrastructure that connects people and technologies through every evolution. Our portfolio of end-to-end solutions includes critical infrastructure our customers need to build high-performing wired and wireless networks. As much as technology changes, our goal remains the same: to help our customers create, innovate, design, and build faster and better. We’ll never stop connecting and evolving networks for the business of life at home, at work, and on the go.

This press release includes forward-looking statements that are based on information currently available to management, management’s beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those currently expected. In providing forward-looking statements, the company does not intend, and is not undertaking any obligation or duty, to update these statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Source: CommScope

News Media Contact: 
Wesley Bates, CommScope
+1 972-952-9780 or publicrelations@commscope.com

Financial Contact: 
Phil Armstrong, CommScope
+1 828-323-4848