Twisted-pair cabling in the late 1980s and early 1990s was often installed to support digital or analog telephone systems. Early twisted-pair cabling (Level 1 or Level 2) often proved marginal or insufficient for supporting the higher frequencies and data rates required for network applications such as Ethernet and Token Ring. Even when the cabling did marginally support higher speeds of data transfer (10Mbps), the connecting hardware and installation methods were often still stuck in the “voice” age, which meant that connectors, wall plates, and patch panels were designed to support voice applications only.

The original Anixter Cables Performance Levels document only described performance standards for cables. A more comprehensive standard had to be developed to outline not only the types of cables that should be used but also the standards for deployment, connectors, patch panels, and more.

A consortium of telecommunications vendors and consultants worked in conjunction with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) to create a Standard originally known as the Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard, or ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-1991. This standard has been revised and updated several times. In 1995, it was published as ANSI/ TIA/EIA-568-A, or just TIA/EIA-568-A. In subsequent years, TIA/EIA-568-A was updated with a series of addendums. For example, TIA/EIA-568-A-5 covered requirements for enhanced Category 5 (Category 5e), which had evolved in the marketplace before a full revision of the standard could be published. A completely updated version of this standard was released as ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B in May 2001. After that, a new standard called ANSI/TIA-568-C was released.

The IEEE maintains the industry standards for Ethernet protocols (or applications). This is part of the 802.3 series of standards and includes applications such as 1000Base-T, 1000Base-SX, 10GBase-T, and 10GBase-SR.

The structured cabling market is estimated to be worth approximately $5 billion worldwide (according to the Building Services Research and Information Association [BSRIA]), due in part to the effective implementation of nationally recognized standards.