March 19, 2009 -- OFS has announced the commercial release of its EZ-Bend cables following successful field trials with multiple independent carriers. Supporting multiple dwelling unit (MDU) and in-home wiring applications, the EZ-Bend technology addresses the critical need to speed and simplify installations by allowing optical drop cables to be bent and routed in ways not previously allowed by other technologies.
"Since announcing this revolutionary technology development last year, we have received great interest from new and existing customers," says William Kloss, executive vice president of marketing and sales, North America and CALA. "With EZ-Bend cable, our customers can reduce costs and improve the performance of fiber to the MDU and residence by providing simple, easy-to-install, backwards-compatible optical connection to the subscriber, while delivering reliable, secure, high-speed Internet and higher-quality, high-bandwidth applications including HD IPTV, telemedicine, and HD video downloads. This innovative technology is the first to provide such performance using a solid glass fiber construction."
The new cabling offerings can conform to building contours and be stapled around sharp corners utilizing existing copper-cable installation tools. The company says the 500X improvement in bending loss performance over conventional singlemode fiber makes this possible.
The cable is available in 4.8- or 3.0-mm diameter ruggedized simplex cordages; is available as indoor/ outdoor, riser, plenum, or low-smoke, zero halogen constructions; as cable in a box for splice applications; and is backward compatible with installed G.652D fibers.
An oral presentation will be delivered at OFC/NFOEC 2009, March 24, on Bend Insensitive Fiber for FTTX Applications.
On the Web:
www.ofsoptics.com
www.ofcnfoec.org
OFS's John George demonstrates EZ-Bend and other access-network technologies