Verizon & Prysmian:

a ‘best in class’ partnership

INTERVIEW

Prysmian’s relationship with Verizon spans the last 14 years. At the time of Verizon’s ‘FiOS’ project, the first true FTTP project in North America. Prysmian was a second source, after a larger competitor. Today, Prysmian is considered the main source.

Stephen Szymanski

VICE PRESIDENT, PRYSMIAN GROUP, TELECOM BUSINESS NORTH AMERICA

This project is especially exciting because it enables 5G, and more importantly, the Internet of Things, which will traverse 5G. 5G & IoT are also the enabler transforming traditional telephony and wireless carriers into an over-the-top (OTT) content providers. Or at least bridging the gap between telephony and OTT. 5G means more than just mobility; it is the fundamental architecture enabling an ‘everything connected’ world. The use cases are endless. The opportunities this brings are greater than anything we’ve ever witnessed.

First mover

Of course, we’re delighted to be part of Verizon’s ‘One Fiber’ project. Besides working with an industry leader, this project gives us a ‘first mover’ advantage – we can develop best practices and gain insights that will help us in future projects. Eventually, ‘One Fiber’-types of broadband-enabled network will be rolled out across the USA and other regions. USA & Verizon are the first movers of 5G, but many other carriers will follow suit, locally and globally. This is a very important development. We’ve seen ‘rollercoaster’-like cycles in our industry, with high peaks and deep troughs. This cycle is different, however, and rests upon economic fundamentals. Our analysis shows this cycle could last well beyond 2020. The only threat we see is in the area of geopolitical challenges and a possible slowdown in China in 2018/19.

Verizon had three main reasons for choosing Prysmian. The first was existing company and product qualifications and the performance of such provided by Prysmian to Verizon between the years 2004 – 2011. Second was Prysmian capitalization and our potential to invest in capacity and product for Verizon. Thirdly, Verizon viewed Prysmian’s team - sales, finance, operations, logistics, engineering & executive involvement - as best in class.

The road to One Fiber

We had already been holding regular meeting in Dallas, Texas and Basking Ridge, New Jersey, for some time. In 2013/14 the sourcing group was outsourced and relocated to Dublin, Ireland. For most of last year my team spent early morning on conference calls and traveling to Dublin for meetings, helping them understand Prysmian, optical cabling and the value in passive optical equipment.

Towards the end of the contract negotiation it was apparent we had moved from second source status to first partnership status. Since the execution of the contract, Verizon’s risk assessment and mitigation audit has been very challenging. The ‘One Fiber’ project is so crucial to Verizon’s future that we’ve been subjected to an intrusive factory audit, revolving around ‘What if?’ scenarios.

For example: if we were to experience a ‘force majeure’ event or catastrophe at our Lexington, South Carolina and Claremont, North Carolina factories, what could we do to ensure continuity of supply? To provide a solution, we have qualified our Dee Why, Australia factory for ribbon cables. We are presently qualifying tube materials for loose tube cables in our Slatina, Romania, factory. The value and benefit Verizon recognizes in Prysmian is our global footprint and best in class intercompany model.

The products:

Different types of Ribbon cables and Loose Tube cables.

Consolidated quantities over the course of the contract:

19 million kilometres of fibre

Stephen Szymanski, Vice President, Prysmian Group, Telecom Business North America, was closely involved in the ‘One Fiber’ project deal, from inception to execution. That meant acting as acting business unit executive, bringing together the right individuals at every level of the company - in both organizations - understanding Verizon’s ‘one-fiber’ architecture and positioning Prysmian existing products. At the same time, Stephen supported development of new products and having them Verizon qualified, which he will continue to do for the duration of the project.

This project is especially exciting because it enables 5G, and more importantly, the Internet of Things, which will traverse 5G. 5G & IoT are also the enabler transforming traditional telephony and wireless carriers into an over-the-top (OTT) content providers. Or at least bridging the gap between telephony and OTT. 5G means more than just mobility; it is the fundamental architecture enabling an ‘everything connected’ world. The use cases are endless. The opportunities this brings are greater than anything we’ve ever witnessed.

First mover

Of course, we’re delighted to be part of Verizon’s ‘One Fiber’ project. Besides working with an industry leader, this project gives us a ‘first mover’ advantage – we can develop best practices and gain insights that will help us in future projects. Eventually, ‘One Fiber’-types of broadband-enabled network will be rolled out across the USA and other regions. USA & Verizon are the first movers of 5G, but many other carriers will follow suit, locally and globally. This is a very important development. We’ve seen ‘rollercoaster’-like cycles in our industry, with high peaks and deep troughs. This cycle is different, however, and rests upon economic fundamentals. Our analysis shows this cycle could last well beyond 2020. The only threat we see is in the area of geopolitical challenges and a possible slowdown in China in 2018/19.

Verizon had three main reasons for choosing Prysmian. The first was existing company and product qualifications and the performance of such provided by Prysmian to Verizon between the years 2004 – 2011. Second was Prysmian capitalization and our potential to invest in capacity and product for Verizon. Thirdly, Verizon viewed Prysmian’s team - sales, finance, operations, logistics, engineering & executive involvement - as best in class.

The road to One Fiber

We had already been holding regular meeting in Dallas, Texas and Basking Ridge, New Jersey, for some time. In 2013/14 the sourcing group was outsourced and relocated to Dublin, Ireland. For most of last year my team spent early morning on conference calls and traveling to Dublin for meetings, helping them understand Prysmian, optical cabling and the value in passive optical equipment.

Towards the end of the contract negotiation it was apparent we had moved from second source status to first partnership status. Since the execution of the contract, Verizon’s risk assessment and mitigation audit has been very challenging. The ‘One Fiber’ project is so crucial to Verizon’s future that we’ve been subjected to an intrusive factory audit, revolving around ‘What if?’ scenarios.

For example: if we were to experience a ‘force majeure’ event or catastrophe at our Lexington, South Carolina and Claremont, North Carolina factories, what could we do to ensure continuity of supply? To provide a solution, we have qualified our Dee Why, Australia factory for ribbon cables. We are presently qualifying tube materials for loose tube cables in our Slatina, Romania, factory. The value and benefit Verizon recognizes in Prysmian is our global footprint and best in class intercompany model.