Running Cat 7 STP cables in the same cable trays as 3-phase power cables

cablecablinglayer1

I am doing some work in a factory that is quite new, and have been asked to terminate some network cables – simple enough.

However on looking up at the cable trays, which are suspended from the ceiling, I see in various places, "Someone" has run 3-phase power cables in-amongst the (eg aprox 20) cat7 cables, for many meters, they have also CABLE TIED a network cable to that power cable as they are dropped down to each machine.

I was always taught that running network cables and power/lighting together was a no-no.

Am I right to be concerned about this? or is Cat 7 fairly interference-proof?

Edit:
Photo added for general amusement – one of many examples. light blue = network, silver = power (coming from the power conduit, through the network tray and then down…

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Best Answer

Legal and compliance questions aside, from pure technical perspective, the answer to your question is - it depends. Out of my own practice: even cheap UTP network cables, even twisted around 230V power cables for many meters in household environments, somehow seem to work fine and still have good bandwidth with no interruptions with all the washing machines and kettles running. Also from my experience, UTP wiring around fluorescent lightning in hanging ceilings has some effect to max speeds which FTP cable fully sorts out.

The theory is - the more current you run through 3-phase cable the more field you create around it which is interference for normal communication. Especially if loads are inductive. But Cat. 7 is very robust cable, so based on my observations, you'd probably be fine. But still, consider your local laws and regulations for cable installations.