Wednesday, August 27, 2008

FTEH?!?!?

I found this while doing some research on Dubai. Turning "the" into "every."

FTTH will become FTEH (Fibre to Every Home) by 2010, predicts Aspen Optics

By Michael Schwartz

15 Jul 2008 at 09:33

Dubai: FTTH (Fiber to the Home) will soon become FTEH (Fiber to Every Home), and FTTO (Fiber to the Office) will also become FTEO (Fiber to Every Office) as standard for new construction in many developed countries by 2010. Aspen Optics, which has made this prediction, will be speeding up expansion in international markets to hasten FTEH.

Aspen Optics is a fibre connectivity products provider for global telecom operators and system integrators. There are obvious trends in the market to support the proposition of “Fiber to Every Home” in many countries. In Dubai, a city well up with innovation, nearly all residential and commercial properties under construction now by leading developers are fibre-ready.

The first FTTH network project in the UAE went live in September 2002, serving subscribers within Emaar Properties developments such as Dubai Marina, the Arabian Ranches, and Emirates Lakes. Dubai may probably become the fastest city in the world to implement FTEH for all new property construction. As an example, the Burj Dubai, being the world's tallest tower, is likely to contain the world’s longest fibre cables within the building, providing Fiber to Every Premise (FTEP).

The increasing demand for high-speed broadband in commercial, industrial and medical applications is pushing the use of fibre instead of copper to support mission critical network connection. The phrasing out of analogue TV to be replaced by IPTV and the popularity of HDTV form key factors to make FTEH a necessary reality.

Etisalat, Saudi Telecom Company and Algerie Telecom in the MEA region, along with France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica in Europe, are some of the leading operators heading up the promotion of fibre networks in the residential and enterprise markets. Fibre networking in the telecoms domain has long been supporting the global IDD connection. Fibre cable is now extending from underground and from the oceans to every building and every premise. According to Aspen Optics, broadband connection through fibre is actually faster and more cost-effective than copper cable and any other means of transmission.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

FTTH - Fast to the Hospital(?)

Group questions safety of Verizon product
Common Cause says problems found during inspection of FiOS systems require state action

ALBANY -- The watchdog group Common Cause is asking state regulators to reconsider Verizon's cable TV license for New York City after state inspectors found potential safety hazards with its FiOS fiber-optic systems.

The state Public Service Commission approved Verizon's franchise agreement with the city last month, calling it a "sure-fire win for consumers in New York City."

But Common Cause and three other consumer advocacy organizations are challenging the decision and want the PSC to temporarily freeze Verizon's rollout of FiOS TV, a product that competes directly with cable and satellite companies.

Routine inspections found that a "high proportion" of FiOS installations around the state failed to adhere to the National Electrical Code and were not properly grounded, according to the PSC. Verizon has filed a plan with the agency to inspect past installations and make sure new ones are checked by a quality assurance team.

"Verizon should not be permitted to benefit from its creation of a safety hazard," Common Cause said in an Aug. 14 petition filed with the PSC, which oversees utilities, telephone companies and cable TV firms.

Verizon has been rapidly rolling out FiOS across the state, first offering phone and Internet service. The TV service has been deployed more slowly, since negotiating franchise agreements in every municipality as required under state law is expensive and time-consuming.

In the Capital Region, FiOS has been deployed in Bethlehem, Colonie and Guilderland, but TV is not offered yet.

"We believe this petition is without merit," Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said in an e-mail Monday when asked about the Common Cause filing. "And we will not speculate as to what it would mean if it had any merit. This has been filed by a group that has stood in the way of progress, and opposed our entry into the NYC market every step of the way. New Yorkers are enjoying the benefits of TV choice and competition, and a state-of-the-art network."

Bonomo has said previously that Verizon is working with the PSC on the matter and is confident its installation procedures are in compliance. After more than four years of installing the systems, there have been no safety problems, he said.

On Monday, Chris Keeley, associate director for Common Cause New York, said his group believes the PSC should have waited to vote on the New York City cable franchise until there was more discussion about the installation concerns.

"The public didn't have a chance to review it," Keeley said. "We have some serious problems with how the process works. There's a lot of implications here."

Keeley pointed out that one of the five PSC commissioners, Patricia Acampora, voted against granting Verizon the franchise specifically over the FiOS installation issue.

In a written dissent, Acampora said she received Verizon's remediation plan on July 15, the day before the monthly meeting. Such dissents are rare.

"I did not have enough time to properly evaluate it, and I do not believe customers are receiving proper notification," Acampora wrote. "Verizon should remedy this problem before moving
forward. Competition is important to all New Yorkers, but at what price?"

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Press Release - SENKO

If your company would like to post a press release here and it is interesting and relevant to the field of fiber optics, please feel free to email it to me.

Here is one from SENKO Advanced Components.


Date: August 2008

Product: XP Fit Plus Field Assembly Connector

Just released Senko Advanced Components announces their solution to time consuming field installation with the introduction of the new XP Fit Plus Field Assembly Connector.

The XP Fit Plus is a pre-polished, pre-assembled connector compatible with the standard SC connector that uses index matching gel. Instead of epoxy, an internal mechanical grip, gently but effectively holds the fiber in place and can be installed in under two minutes. Without polishing or adhesives, the XP Fit Plus makes on site installations quick and easy, diminishing the need for epoxy curing and hand polishing at the work site.

The XP Fit Plus comes with an assembly jig and fiber holder for 900µm tight buffered fiber which makes for an accurate alignment and fiber cleave when terminating the connector. Following the guides on the assembling jig and fiber holder, assembly is effortless. Once the fiber is pushed into the connector and a click is heard, the job is complete and the connector is ready for use in CATV, Telecommunication networks, multimedia, and some FTTX applications.
SENKO also sells a complete tool set that includes everything you will need on site to use and install our XP Fit Plus Field Assembly Connector. The tool kit QST-02 includes a cleaver tool, fiber stripper, and cleaning materials. For more information on our products please visit our website at www.senko.com/store.

SENKO Advanced Components develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes over 1000 fiber optic products for the telecom and datacom industries worldwide. An ISO-9001 approved company, SENKO® is able to provide multinational corporations with the technical expertise to liaise with engineers, and the manufacturing flexibility to develop custom products for the ever growing high tech industry. Many of our products were created to resolve a specific design challenge faced by our customers. We offer one of the industry’s largest product portfolios, and our quality is second to none.

For more information on this product, call 1-888-32-SENKO or visit http://www.senko.com/.

For more information on this press release, please contact:

Sarah Norton
Marketing Coordinator
SENKO Advanced Components, Inc.
225 Cedar Hill Street
Marlboro, MA 01751
T: +1-858-623-3300
F: +1-858-623-3303
E: snorton@senko.com

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Who Makes What: GPON

A Good list of who makes what GPON equipment. I imagine this is a very valuable list for companies selling to the GPON market, but then again if your sales people are good, they should know this list already. Nevertheless, it is the most viewed story on lightreading.

http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=155848

Monday, August 18, 2008

Sign of the Times

You know the economy is bad when people are stealing fiber optic cable...

Thieves Steal Fiber Optic Cable & Create $10,000 In Damages

By KBJR News 1

Superior police officers are investigating a theft at Conner's Point.

Monday morning officers were called there after someone stole 200 feet of fiber optic cable that caused $10,000 in damages and some Century Tel customers to be without phone, internet, and television services for some time.

A Century Tel employee witnessed three people fleeing from the area; two of whom stopped to role a boulder onto the road so they could not be followed.

One suspect is described as a white male in his 40's with short gray hair, wearing a light blue, button-up shirt and blue jeans.

The other two were described as a male in his mid 20's with wavy blonde hair, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans and a woman with brown hair.

They fled in an older white or cream colored ford F-150 pickup truck with a brown trim stripe on the bottom.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Superior Police Department.

Fiber Optics for Wireless

Interesting article on my new favorite topic - Fiber under the sea.

Can Undersea Optic Cables Presage a Boom?
Communications links among countries are like transportation routes in the past, opening up new territories to trade and an economic upsurge
by Om Malik

One thing I've learned about the optical network business, having followed it for more than a decade, is that the boom and bust cycles of the business often mask patterns that have long-term implications. The overbuilding of U.S. networks in the 1990s foretold a bust in the telecom industry. The buying up of bankrupt carriers' assets indicated the rise of new players, including Google, which has built a fearsome infrastructure. These days, all the excitement in the optical business is around new undersea cables being laid (or planned), bridging previously unconnected parts of the world. These cables are, in fact, the early warning signs of a coming economic boom.
Let me explain. In the 1990s, we saw a grotesque number of cables laid under the Atlantic and Pacific, connecting the U.S. with Japan, parts of Asia Pacific, and Europe. Those three regions went through an unprecedented boom, much of it inspired by technological changes that brought millions of people to the Internet. The boom, also inspired by deregulation of the telecom infrastructures in those countries, led to further spending on such communications as wireless phone calls and the high-speed Web. Unfortunately, the demand (captured quite well by bandwidth provider Global Crossing (in the early days) led to overbuilding, oversupply—and eventually a bust.
A similar scenario is now playing out in the Trans-Pacific Region, where cables are being built rapidly, and the bandwidth capacity on existing cables is being doubled. Many more cables under construction will connect with India and China, both of which are going through their own economic booms. According to the World Bank, China is the world's second-largest economy, and India claims the fourth spot. These countries have become economic hubs—not only buying but also selling to the outside world. And a key ingredient of trade is the ability to communicate, which in turn requires the large amount of capacity that can come only with undersea fiber cables.
Connecting Up Africa
The latest such effort is Seacom, a $650 million, 15,000km cable connecting East Africa with Asia and Europe. It is expected to be completed next June and provide 1.28 terabits per second of network capacity. This is just tip of the iceberg. According to TeleGeography, a research firm that tracks the global broadband business, 12 cables either in planning stages or under construction will connect Africa to the rest of the planet. Those connections will have a theoretical capacity of more than 13 terabits per second, and construction is estimated to cost more than $3 billion.
Why so much connectivity? After all, PC penetration is abysmally low in Africa. The answer is cell phones. At the beginning of 2008, the continent had a quarter of a billion mobile subscribers, according to the International Telecommunications Union, and Portio Research expects the number to increase to 378 million by 2011. Local companies are furiously building out networks, and by all indications, overall market penetration is going to increase from the 28% mark reported at the start of this year. Cell phones require networks to transfer calls between countries, so there is a need for networks to circle the continent—or at least countries where demand is greatest, such as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
In the recent past, India went through a similar cycle, in which a spurt in mobile sales acted as a catalyst for the overall economy. Phone calls provide the vital connections for trade to flourish in areas hitherto unconnected. Something similar is happening in Africa, where mobile banking has emerged as a facilitator of cross-border trade.
You can see a similar scenario set to play out in other parts of the world. About five cables on the drawing board or under construction will connect Cambodia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and some of the smaller countries in Asia. All these countries are going through an economic upsurge and are becoming part of the global economic system.
This leads me to my conclusion: Building new cables is the equivalent to adding new roads, new shipping lanes, or flights. The undersea fibers of today are what sea trading routes were in the past—an indicator of future economic activity and a subsequent boom.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Underwater

After visiting the Tyco plant in Portsmouth, NH earlier this year. I now find this stuff fascinating. What an amazing use of fiber and the facility is absolutely humongous. What a large scale operation.

http://thecabledirectory.com/newsdetails.asp?id=6684

He's Baack!

Sorry it has been a crazy several months, but I am back and ready to blog you with the latest and greatest fiber optic related news. Starting tomorrow I will be reconvening with the business of bringing you the latest in fiber optic news and will be branching out from FTTH and GPON to military and other interesting (I almost typed 'exciting') uses of fiber technology.

SteveO