Serving area interface

{{more citations needed|date=April 2014}} thumb|SAI in New Jersey The '''serving area interface''' or '''service area interface''' ('''SAI''') is an outdoor enclosure or metal box that allows access to telecommunications wiring.

==Alternate names== *'''Access point''' ('''AP''') *'''Cabinet''' ('''cab''') *'''B-box''' ('''breakout box''') *'''Cross box''' *'''Cross-connect box''' *'''Jumper wire interface''' ('''JWI''') *'''Outside plant interface''' ('''OPI''') *'''Pedestal''' ('''ped''') *'''Primary cross-connection point''' ('''PCP''') (UK)<ref name="Whyte">"Multimedia Telecommunications" (BT Telecommunications Series), B. Whyte (Ed.), Springer 1997</ref> *'''Secondary cross-connection point''' ('''SCP''') (UK)<ref name="Whyte"/> *'''Telecom cabinet'''

== Function == The SAI provides the termination of individual twisted pairs of a telephony local loop for onward connection back to the nearest telephone exchange (US: "central office" (CO)) or remote switch, or first to transmission equipment such as a subscriber loop carrier multiplexer and then to the exchange main distribution frame (MDF).

In the United Kingdom, the components from the PCP onwards to the customer are known as "D-side" (distribution side), and from the PCP back to the MDF as the "E-side" (exchange side). In the United States, the connection back to the MDF is known as the F2 (secondary distribution cable) and/or the F1 (main feeder cable) pairs.

SAIs are used in suburban and low-density urban areas, serving some of the same purposes that manholes do in high-density urban areas. Besides a cross connect point, they sometimes contain a DSLAM or more rarely a remote concentrator or both.

==References== {{Commons category|Serving area interface}} {{Reflist}}

Category:Local loop Category:Street furniture