AFL has introduced the LQ-Series I/O Plenum Loose Tube Cable, developed to provide a lower cost inter-building cabling solution for campus-based networks. The LQ cable is tested and qualified to meet the standards for outside plant (OSP) and inside plant (ISP) plenum-rated fiber optic cables so that it can be used as a single-cable solution for OSP and ISP cable installations.
"The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) NEC guidelines allow for outside plant-only cables to be routed into a building space for up to only 50 feet," said Stephen Martin, RCDD, senior product manager for AFL's Enterprise Cable division. "If the termination point of the outside plant cable is beyond 50 feet from the point of entrance into the building, the cable must be placed into a fire-protected pathway or spliced to a properly flame-rated inside plant cable."
"AFL's LQ-Series Indoor/Outdoor Plenum Loose Tube cable, with combined outside and inside plant ratings, eliminates the need to transition to a separate flame-rated inside plant cable when in-building termination points are beyond 50 feet from the entrance location."
The cable construction consists of 12-fiber, gel-free buffer tubes stranded around a central strength member. The finished core is jacketed with a flame-retardant, UV-resistant thermoplastic. The LQ-Series cable is available with 12 up to 144 single-mode or multimode fibers. Applications include inter-building campus backbone connections, installation in OSP buried pathways or above-ground exposed cable trays, in cable routes that require cables to transit OSP space, and inside plant environments that require cables to be riser or plenum-rated.