February 13, 2008 -- The Fiber Optics LAN Section (FOLS) of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has elected its slate of officers for 2008. Rodney Casteel, global fiber applications manager at CommScope's Enterprise Solutions group, was elected as section chair.
"Rodney has been intimately involved with the FOLS for many years, serving as both communications chair and vice chair, and leading many of the Section's initiatives," comments Andrew Oliviero, FOLS chair in 2007. "He has been a driving force in the ongoing development of our popular cost model and his presence as an industry spokesperson ideally positions him to help move the FOLS forward in several areas in 2008."
Now in its 15th year, FOLS was founded to provide information on the use of fiber in the backbone and horizontal portions of premises networks. FOLS serves as an educational resource, providing information to users about the benefits of fiber in customer-owned networks.
"Today, more than ever, users and network designers need a resource like the Fiber Optics LAN Section to offer a vendor-neutral, technology-based perspective on the advantages of deploying fiber in customer-owned networks," comments Casteel. "Interest in fiber for enterprise applications is very strong, driven by advances in the fiber-to-the-home market and increasing demands for bandwidth in the enterprise. FOLS is very balanced organization because many of our member companies offer both fiber and copper solutions, and our focus is on finding those applications where fiber is the right choice."
In addition to Casteel, the following other leaders in the fiber-optic industry were elected to FOLS for 2008:
Vice Chair: Andrew Oliviero, OFS
Communication Co-Chairs: Alexandra Manning, Sumitomo Electric Lightwave; and Marybeth Marx, Ortronics/LeGrand
Membership Chair: Alfred Flores, Berk-Tek, a Nexans company
Standards Chair: Herb Congdon, Tyco Electronics