| Do you know why it is so expensive to install Fiber | | | | count of glass fibers, organize fibers precisely for |
| To The Home? Why Bell companies are reluctant to | | | | mass fusion splicing, provide individual fiber |
| deploy fiber optic network directly to consumers in a | | | | identification, can be divided into single fibers or |
| large scale? | | | | subunits, mechanically reliable and can be easily |
| It's not the material cost. It's the labor! The | | | | accessed from the end or midspan. |
| introduction of fiber into the subscriber loop has | | | | These requirements must all be met at the same |
| increased the installation of short cable lengths with | | | | time which makes the manufacturing of high quality |
| large number of splices. The speed at which the | | | | ribbon fibers a tough task. |
| cables can be placed, spliced, accessed and | | | | So fiber cable specialists concluded a excellent design. |
| reconfigured are becoming extremely important. | | | | A color coded array of fibers bonded in a line with |
| So the need for new technologies that promise to | | | | fiber coating material. Based on this fundamental |
| reduce the fiber deployment cost are very high. Bell | | | | structure, two designed emerged: edge bonded or |
| companies are anxious on acquiring these new | | | | encapsulated. |
| technologies and products in order to reduce their | | | | Edge Bonded Design |
| cost and push the broadband fiber optic network | | | | The edge bonded design basically bonds the fibers |
| installation. | | | | together with only materials in between of each fiber. |
| That is where the high fiber count ribbon cables | | | | This design is more popular in the United States. This |
| come to play. These compact, UV epoxy bonded | | | | design is 40% smaller than the encapsulated design. |
| cables are comprised with high precision optical fibers | | | | Encapsulate Design |
| and can be massed fusion spliced with minimum loss. | | | | In encapsulate design, bonding materials extend well |
| These products have proven to be an excellent | | | | beyond the gaps between fibers, it actually |
| platform for FTTH deployment. | | | | encapsulates all fibers inside a rectangular looking |
| Mass fusion splicing machines from Japanese | | | | tube. This design are more used in Japan. |
| companies are a integrated part of this process. | | | | Ribbon Fiber Mass Fusion Splicing |
| These fusion splicers are used by the fiber installation | | | | The time savings for ribbon fiber mass fusion splicing |
| technicians to splice up to 24 fibers at a time with | | | | are so big that sometimes in the field individual fibers |
| very low splice loss. | | | | are ribbonlized to make mass fusion splicings. |
| Ribbon Fiber Design | | | | However, the success of mass ribbon fiber splicing |
| The most basic requirement for any fiber optic cable | | | | relies critically on the fiber geometry, the ribbon and |
| design is to protect the glass fibers inside from harsh | | | | the mass fusion splicer. High quality and consistent |
| environment. But for ribbon fibers, there is the other | | | | mass fusion splices can only be produced with ribbons |
| vital requirement: organize the fibers for optimum | | | | that are made from fibers having stringent geometric |
| space efficiency and ease of mass fusion splicing and | | | | tolerances. |
| handling. And at the same, they must also be able to | | | | These high quality fibers and ribbons are already |
| maintain the optical performance and mechanical | | | | commercially available. And they make the fiber |
| reliability. | | | | deployment in FTTH projects a joy for the installers. |
| This means that ribbon fiber cables must pack high | | | | |