Draka Comteq intros BendBrightXS with ColorLockXS coating

NOVEMBER 5, 2007 -- Draka Comteq (search for Draka Comteq) today announced that its latest innovation in fiber coating technology, ColorLockXS, will be available on the company's flagship bend-insensitive fiber, BendBrightXS, in January 2008. BendBrightXS (search for BendBrightXS), which Draka Comteq claims was the first true bend-insensitive fiber introduced to the market in 2006, has gained significant momentum in the marketplace because it meets the most stringent fiber bending standards while still maintaining backwards compatibility with existing fiber infrastructure, say company representatives.  

The newest enhancement, ColorLockXS, improves fiber micro-bending performance as well as strip-ability, while adding new vibrant colors integrated into the fiber coating. Unlike other fibers recently introduced to the market, says the company, BendBrightXS is an all-glass fiber using proven and industry accepted materials and technology, eliminating splicing concerns or special procedures needed to connectorize the fiber.

The micro-bending improvement of ColorLockXS coating on BendBrightXS is exemplified by the fiber's resistance to kink-losses, a key metric to determine fiber performance in tight bends in FTTx applications, such as stapling cables. Kink-loss can be described as partial bends up to 45 degrees of the optical fiber at radii as small as 2 mm. Typical losses for BendBrightXS in such a scenario are less than 0.1 dB, even at a 2-mm radius, which represents up to a 100x improvement over standard singlemode, claim Draka Comteq representatives.  

"This combination of BendBrightXS with the new ColorLockXS coating is yet another example of Draka Comteq's clear leadership in fiber technology," contends Phil Edwards, president of Draka Comteq Optical Fiber. "It shows our commitment to raise the bar, continuously innovating our products, which ultimately add significant value to the end-customer," he adds.  

Unlike other fibers on the market that require an additional process to color the fiber, ColorLockXS uses a patented technology in which the fibers are colored during the draw process, explains the company. With integrated colors in the fiber coating, the fiber color is guaranteed not to wear, maintaining vibrant colors throughout the lifetime of the fiber. More importantly, says Draka Comteq, its BendBrightXS with ColorLockXS is the only optical fiber in the world proof tested after coloring. Fibers that are proof tested prior to the fiber coloring process raises questions about true fiber lifetime after coloration, say company representatives.      

"With more and more discussions of reduced bend radius fiber storage we think that Draka Comteq clearly has the best lifetime performance, bar none, in the optical fiber industry," asserts Edwards.  

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