New 96 fibre microduct cable of the “Nano” wide range launched
The Group has developed a 96 fibre microduct cable, which leads the way for small optical fibre cable designs
Prysmian Group, world leaders in the energy telecom cables and systems industry, has developed a 96 fibre microduct cable, which leads the way for small optical fibre cable designs. This is another extension of the company’s wide range of “Nano” loose tube cables for microduct application and surpasses the requirements of the emerging IEC 60794-5-10 standard.
Optical fibre cables contain strands of optically pure glass that carry digital information over long distances for things such as the internet, telephone systems and digital TV and essentially light our digital world. A Prysmian spokesman explained, “When it comes to optical fibre cables, customers always want a higher fibre count in a smaller cable so that more information can be sent from a cable that uses less room in already congested duct networks”.
Prysmian’s new 96 fibre cable is less than 6mm in diameter. Developed under the project name “NEWT™” (Nano Extended Wavelength Technology), the Prysmian engineers have succeeded in designing and testing a cable beyond the current limits of existing standards, which normally require characterisation at a wavelength of 1550nm.
The Prysmian design, which incorporates innovative diameter reduced 200µm BendBright®XS fibre, complying to the bending loss insensitive fibre recommendation ITU-T G.657.A2, performs exceptionally well at 1625nm (a wavelength at which optical fibre is more bend sensitive than 1550nm), even at low temperature testing to minus 40oC. This enables the customer to fully utilise all the wavelengths specified in ITU-T recommendations G.794.1 and G.794.2 for wavelength division multiplexing applications, enabling more data to be transmitted, either now or as a system upgrade in the future. A full range of Nano Loose Tube Cables, from 12 to 288 fibres, is available.