Apr 27 2010
The industry's newest generation of coating technology for optical fiber, DeSolite Supercoatings™, is formulated to optimize fiber optic deployment in today's Multiple Dwelling Unit (MDU) environments, says UV-curable coatings leader DSM. Introduced by DSM in 2009, DeSolite Supercoatings™ enable higher fiber count in compact cable, increased stress tolerance, and improved signal attenuation performance in tight bend applications.
Among the most significant challenges addressed by DeSolite Supercoatings™ in delivering fiber-all-the-way in the MDU environment are: deploying fiber optic cable in very tight locations without increasing signal attenuation, ensuring that the fiber will perform over the life of the network and avoiding costly re-builds, and having enough capacity in the plant to support increasingly bandwidth-hungry services.
"DeSolite Supercoatings™ are engineered for low microbend sensitivity which produces several key performance benefits in optical fiber, including the enabling of higher fiber capacity in compact cable designs," said Steve Schmid, DSM R&D Manager Fiber Optic Coatings. "The use of these newest-generation coatings can result in increasing a compact cable's fiber count capacity by more than 30%."
New higher-density, high-performance fiber optic cables, made possible by DSM's advanced coating formulation, allow broadband service providers to lower capital and operational expenses related to fiber optic deployment because the cable is easier to install and has lower overall maintenance. The added capacity in the cable allows service providers to deliver highly-profitable premium services and create a more positive customer experience.
"The broadband industry is being tasked to deliver network capacity into increasingly complex and exotic environments, and in MDUs we're dealing with much tighter real estate," said Rob Crowell, Vice President Fiber Optics Materials DSM Desotech. "We attacked this challenge in the same way we've been addressing them for the fiber industry over the past four decades—with experience, investment in R&D and an ongoing dialogue with fiber manufacturers and other industry leaders. The result is a technology innovation that is making fiber-all-the-way a cost-effective and profitable option for service providers."