Sumitomo Electric Lightwave showcases splicing and ribbon fiber products at NXTcomm
JUNE 19, 2007 -- Sumitomo Electric Lightwave (search for Sumitomo), a manufacturer of fiber-optic products, has unveiled its new cross-compatible Lynx CustomFit Splice-On Connector, featuring built-in singlemode fiber, enabling customized field FTTH/FTTP and OSP terminations. The connector, Sumitomo's peelable ribbon-fiber cable products, and next-generation fusion splicers provide lower-cost deployment solutions in the FTTx network, says Sumitomo.
The new method of termination provided by the Lynx CustomFit connector eliminates guesswork in determining the length of preterminated jumpers, allowing field technicians to customize the termination in the field, ensuring quick, accurate, and permanent connectorizations. The connector also eliminates the necessity and associated costs of maintaining an inventory of splice trays, matching gels, and varying lengths of preterminated jumpers.
"New innovations, such as the Lynx CustomFit Splice-On Connector, increased utilization of ribbon fiber when applicable, and faster, more cost-efficient fusion splicers offer service providers with solutions that achieve faster deployments, quicker service turn-up, and lower overall project costs necessary for achieving competitiveness and profitability," says Tony Squires, Sumitomo's product manager for communication networks.
Although the company manufactures both loose-tube and ribbon fiber-optic cable, it says feedback from recent deployments show that its 100% gel-free ribbon cable product line, featuring exclusive Easy Split & Peel ribbon fiber technology, can facilitate increased productivity and faster network field deployments when accompanied by more affordable and faster mass fusion splicing equipment. In a rural ILEC example, network deployment requiring 7,000 splices using a 12-fiber mass fusion splicer generates a cost savings of over $170,000 even when inflating the mass fusion splicing labor rate by 4x the rate for a single splice.
Along with the Splice-on Connector and broad fiber-optic cable product line, Sumitomo is showcasing its latest mass fusion splicer, the TuffCat Type-66, which it claims is the industry's first and only dual-heater, multifiber splicer, yielding 70% increased productivity in the field.