Prysmian has been awarded NBN Co’s (National Broadband Network) ‘protected environment’ award for 2022

Prysmian Australia, a subsidiary of Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded nbn's 'Protected Environment' Award for 2022.

Prysmian maintains a longstanding partnership with NBN Co, locally manufacturing and supplying the optical ribbon cable integral to nbn's national network as well as being the exclusive supply of all of nbn's copper cable. It is a truly outstanding achievement recognising the innovative effort of the local team in Australia, as all of nbn cables are manufactured in Prysmian’s Dee Why, Sydney plant.

Prysmian's ability to innovate saw the optimisation of the 12-fibre stranded feeder cable to nbn. Our local team worked closely with nbn's Engineering design team to challenge the existing cable design and develop a smaller and lighter cable without compromise to the mechanical, environmental and optical performance. After several iterations of prototyping and testing, the final design was a reduction in weight of 21% (which is mostly plastic material), a 27% reduction in size and a doubling of cable length on the existing size drum, with no change to the cable performance characteristics or handling methods.

It was after a year’s supply, that the sustainability benefits of this design could be fully realised. In 12 months, there were significant benefits to material usage and CO2 emissions, namely:

• Reduced use of plastics by 129 tonnes.
• Reduced use of timber by 87 tonnes (1400 wooden drums) due to ability to supply longer lengths of cable on the same drum.
• Reduced emissions of CO2 by 1,175 tonnes.
• Reduced emissions from logistics as 1400+ drums have been taken off the road.

“We are delighted that our long-term strategy to manufacture locally, with a commitment to innovation and sustainability, continues to be of significant value to our customers” commented Hama Shroff, CEO of Prysmian Oceania. “This award reiterates Prysmian's position as the leading supplier of optical and copper cables to the telecom industry in Australia and New Zealand.”

Prysmian Oceania CEO, Hama Shroff, together with nbn Business Account Manager James Rando, receiving the ‘Protected Environment’ Award from NBN Co CEO, Stephen Rue.