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With the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) state allocations announced on June 26, states are now proactively creating plans to build high speed broadband networks to the unserved and underserved – all the way down to the last home or business on the farthest dirt road of every community.
In this On Topic, you’ll get a deep look at the critical impact fiber is making in rural communities. You’ll see how providers are able to make such a profound difference in these economies, as well as the technical “how-to” that makes these accomplishments possible.
Hi, I’m Mark Boxer, Technical Manager with OFS, and here’s what’s new in my world.
The first waves of fiber deployments were focused on single family homes and for good reason. There wasn’t as much demand for bandwidth and MDU or multi dwelling units and 15 to 20 years ago we just really didn’t have the same products that are now routinely used in MDUs. You know MDUs 15-20 years ago were some expensive science projects. So much has changed and it really can now make sense to do MDUs first.
So, first, broadband demand rises in single family homes and MDUs, and the commercial and regulatory environments are also changing. And very importantly the industry has responded with new products and installation methods that dramatically simplify the installation process and then to use. So as an industry we’ve learned that fiber installations and MDUs need to be fast, easy, and not visible – to preserve the building decor. The fiber also needs to be able to withstand the many bends of an apartment. InvisiLight Solutions enable these types of installations.
We’ve also discovered that with these tools, fiber installations for MDUs really have now flipped the script so these solutions are fast. They’re easy and inexpensive to install, meaning these installations can also be very profitable for network operators to deploy.
At a time when outside plant cable lead times may be long, indoor fiber products may have shorter lead times, which means that service could be turned up more quickly. We’ve also discovered that with these tools, the products can be installed with the minimal amount of training. A crew can be up and running within minutes to hours. Or, as we’ve heard people say before, on Thursday he’s a taxi driver, on Friday he’s an InvisiLight installer.
It can make sense for a service provider to consider MDUs first. So, let’s take a closer look. The Ultra bend insensitive fiber standard that’s used in these builds is G.657B3 and the OFS brand name for this fiber type is EZ-Bend fiber. You can bunch it up and tie it into knots. You can run into very tight angles and staple it with little added loss.
Many MDUs have lots of bends, and if you use a typical outside plant cable to do what I just did with the knot, then that would turn out the lights. However, we routinely deploy EZ-Bend and InvisiLight in environments with dozens of 90-degree angles, with no issues.
So, I was on a MDU build a couple of weeks ago where we went through forty-five 90-degree angles, two splices, and two connectors. The result was a loss of less than half a DB from the splitter to the ONT, and frankly that’s impressive.
The term InvisiLight is a nod to the light that goes into the fiber and the fact that it’s also almost invisible to the resident. Out of sight, out of mind. These products are deployed in minutes.
Deploying to MDUs can be fast and inexpensive to deploy, inconspicuous with low optical loss, and reasonably available supply chain. When you add these benefits together, it’s worth considering MDUs first. That’s what’s new in my world.
Visit our step-by-step Invisilight MDU/ILU product configurator for starting a Bill of Materials for your building.
This configurator is designed for buildings with riser spaces and indoor hallways. Additional options are available.
Hi, I’m John George, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering and Fusion Splicers at OFS. What’s new in my world is our new MDU!Click® Solution for fiber deployment in buildings.
With the MDU!Click Solution we can defer the cost of a splitter module until we have a higher take rate on each floor. This is for a pay-as-you-grow kind of deployment. It’s used for a second, or third entrant into the building, fiber to the business deployments, or maybe high take rates aren’t expected initially and there’s a desire to defer the cost of the build as much as possible with subscriber growth.
The way the system works is we have a MDU!Click SlimBox® Flex Indoor Module in the MDF the entry point of the building with a one by four or one by eight splitter feeding through the EZ-Bend® 12 or 24 fiber riser cable. You can see this is a very compact cable that can fit in limited spaces. We’re breaking out a single fiber so we can support one subscriber per floor in the initial deployment. Then, we can connect that first subscriber by plugging in one of our EZ-Bend Jumpers – a drop cable assembly that can go many hundreds of feet if needed.
The EZ Bend cable has a 2.5 millimeter bend radius to handle the cornering in the buildings that’s often required. Then, to add more than one subscriber on each floor, we simply put in place our MDU!Click SlimBox Flex Indoor Splitter Module and expand from one to eight ports. We can reconnect our initial subscriber and connect seven more subscribers on that floor, in order to get a higher take rate as we get new subscribers in the building.
That’s what’s new in my world, the MDU!Click® Solution for fiber in the building.
Sandy Oregon located about 30 miles from downtown Portland is blessed with beautiful mountain scenery but unfortunately its great location also leads to challenges when it comes to being connected to the outside world. In 2002 city officials had the vision to start their own internet service provider and offer affordable internet service to its residents. The result was SandyNet. From the beginning it was a huge success. People wanted it. They were hungry for it.
We had been in municipal ISP for quite some time starting off with DSL and wireless and outgrown that technology and so really the only next step for technology was to go to fiber. So, in 2014 SandyNet partnered with OFS to bring high-speed fiber to Sandy’s businesses and residents. They set some specific goals at the time that included deploying a future-proof fiber optic network. Providing all neighborhoods with the same service enabling residents the ability to access videos, e-learning, gaming, and government services, increasing Sandy’s competitiveness to attract new business and offering the city-owned network as a utility. In the years since upgrading to a fiber optic network, how has Sandy done with meeting their goals?
Sandy’s seeing some unprecedented growth right now both on the residential side and a lot of commercial opportunities. Going forward, SandyNet will continue to help lure people here and increase our tax base, increase our residence and increase the virtual learning environment that a lot of our students are partaking in. Right now, over the course of the last six seven years, during that time period I’ve talked to a number of people in Sandy who have moved here to the community and while it wasn’t the sole decision that they made the fact that gigabit fiber was available at their residence in a wired solution was the deciding factor for several people to buy a house in this community.
Our community has just thrived with having that big fat fiber pipe. That’s one of the things for us where we were always struggling with the amount of capacity that our previous internet service providers were giving to us. Now we don’t have that problem anymore. We have over capacity in a sense. We have enough to where people can stream and listen to music while they’re working and we can still get all our work done. We can download the data that we need to get it done in minutes, seconds. Instead of an hour or two, we can upload stuff into our servers, into our clients servers, quickly just all of that greatness that comes with having a really fast internet connection.
It’s a great asset to have our SandyNet charges on the same utility bill that our water and sewer charges are on. It’s an easy one payment a month to have this service that you know is much more affordable than a lot of the other providers that are out both in our area and nationally.
But back in 2014 when SandyNet was deploying fiber to try and make its network future proof no one could have foreseen what fiber would mean to not just the town but the entire world in 2020. There was virtually no one whose life was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Having a high speed fiber optic network became the difference between those who were able to keep pace with the world and those who were left wanting something better. It was amazing that we got our fiber put in place when we did. It was built out to so many homes and had gone in front of hundreds of the homes in Sandy. Those that didn’t initially take it, could get it during that time. There was no rationing. We were in school one day and then everyone was at home the next day. Not just students, but also people working from home.
When you have a strand of fiber going to your house providing gigabit capacity it makes working from home very easy and I think a lot of people have been very happy with the service that they’ve gotten here in Sandy. From council meetings being held virtually, to team meetings, and other department meetings at the administrative level, we were able to continue our operations seamlessly with the help of SandyNet During the pandemic we did see an increase in speed upwards of 25 across our overall traffic patterns. Mostly traffic did increase during the workday. Our network is designed to be able to carry that load.
Once the city of Sandy decided to go all in with fiber who better to turn to than OFS. The industry leading experts at OFS were able to design, engineer, and deploy a network that was easily able to meet all of Sandy’s goals for a robust future-proof network.
OFS is able to combine several products that are designed to work with the gigabit, and 10 gigabit, 25 gigabit fiber. OFS can integrate solutions together to provide a complete turnkey solution for fiber to the home to our customers. We have to thank OFS a lot for SandyNet. We can’t go out and buy a book on how to set up fiber to the home network. Working with people that have been in the industry for 30 some years and having a great team that has worked on fiber the home projects in the past has been great. OFS has done all the heavy lifting. They’ve figured out all the optical budget information and then just provided this seamless solution and high-quality product.
Sandy’s been a fantastic success. We really appreciate all the opportunities from the city of Sandy for OFS. A complete OFS product solution along with the design the engineering, the build has provided the city of Sandy residents with great economic enhancement and quality of life improvement for decades to come. It would be a lot harder to differentiate Sandy from any other city of 12,000 people in Oregon. We still have many things that make us unique, but SandyNet really is the biggest one and I think it will have the most impact on our community over time.
To read the audio transcript for The Last 100 Meters of Fiber to and Into the Home click here.
AN OFS WHITE PAPER: NEW TECHNOLOGIES ENABLE FASTER, EASIER FIBER INSTALLATION INTO HOMES AND MDUs
For immediate access to our exclusive FTTH whitepaper, click here.
EZ-Bend Cabling and InvisiLight Solutions enable fast, easy and accepted fiber deployments to and into MDUs, homes and offices.
Executive Summary
Driven by unprecedented demand for Gigabit and fast emerging 10 Gigabit Broadband, Fiber to the Home (FTTH) deployment is expected to reach record numbers in the coming years. According to iDate, FTTH connections will more than double in Europe over the next six years, while RVA forecasts that FTTH investment in North America will double in the next five years compared to the previous five. In addition to homes, service providers are bringing fiber to the living unit in multiple dwelling units (MDUs) and into commercial and institutional buildings. In all these scenarios, a cost-effective and compact optical network terminal (ONT) is typically placed inside each living unit or office to enable Gigabit or even 10 Gigabit connectivity. However, there are aesthetic and cost challenges to placing fiber inside residences or buildings. While service providers typically prefer to deploy ONTs deep within subscribers’ units with co-located Wi-Fi:
there may be no existing fiber ducts or pathways to the ONT location.
installing new ducts or cutting and patching walls can be very expensive and disruptive.
surface mounting conventional fiber cables can be unsightly and result in optical signal loss when the cables are bent around the many sharp corners on the pathway to the ONT.
wire molding or tape systems to house fiber are typically cost prohibitive, visible. and very slow to install.
Transcript:
Good day, my name is John George. I’m Senior Director of Solutions and Professional Services with OFS. Today I want to share what’s new in my world that could help you build better fiber to the home (FTTH).
Originally, FTTH deployments were fiber to outdoor ONTs on the side of a house. From there, copper typically was used to reach an indoor residential gateway inside the home. Over time we discovered indoor ONTs are smaller, and less expensive. They could be deployed inside the home, co-located with the wi-fi in the center of the building and achieve much better wi-fi coverage. This would reduce the cost, but there had to be a way to get the fiber into the home to that indoor ONT.
For MDU’s and apartment buildings, it evolved from fiber to the building, and trying to use the existing in-building copper to bring the internet service to each living unit. That proved to be insufficient from a bandwidth perspective for MDUs. To support 10 gigabit data rates that are being deployed now, it’s desired by service providers to get fiber into each living unit of an apartment building.
I’ll walk you through some innovative technologies we offer, that help solve those significant problems. The first one is EZ-Bend Cabling Solution. This is a three-millimeter diameter cable. It can have connectors on both ends. It can simply be stapled around any corner, and bends sharply in half with no concern about loss whatsoever. It has a 2.5 millimeter minimum bend radius – that’s twice as tight as anything else you can get on the market. The best from others is only five millimeters.
The EZ-Bend 2.5 millimeter bend radius technology is even more necessary as we move to from gigabit, to 10 gigabit. 10 gigabit use longer wavelengths in the transmission system. Longer wavelengths have much higher bend loss than what’s used for the gigabit. So, cable bends in a 10 gigabit transmission is a bigger challenge, but we solve it with the EZ-Bend. You can literally bend it any way without concern for signal loss.
The next technology we offer is the OFS InvisiLight Solution. It‘s used to solve issues inside the home or apartment. Originally, stapling cables inside the home was acceptable. Now, many customers don’t want to see the fiber at all inside the living unit. The OFS InvisiLight Solution is fiber installed inside an apartment, or home that blends into its environment; nearly invisible to anyone looking directly at it. The OFS InvisiLight Solution gets the fiber deep inside to the ONT. We have connectors on both ends of the InvisiLight spool making it easier to deploy a single part number, that can cover up to 132 feet, getting fiber into a home or an MDU living unit.
We also have a 12 fiber version, and a 16 fiber version for MDU hallways. These editions to go down the hallway and drop off the single fiber InvisiLight into the living unit.
Finally, we have the EZ-Bend Single Family Drop Solution that includes drop cabling, from the pole or pedestal to the home, and into the home. This is a double end connectorized assembly that’s toneable orange and can be laid out as a temporary drop, then buried later. What’s beautiful about this is it has the InvisiLight fiber inside the cable, so you can run this to the house below grade, direct buried, or induct, then wrap the house with it, and then to extend into the home to reach the ONT. All that is needed is to strip the jacketing off and then what you have is the fiber outside going through the wall to the inside where we’ve got the InvisiLight deployed to the ONT. Essentially this is a single piece of glass all the way from the curb, into the home, and into connecting the ONT. Quite simple, one part number, you don’t need a Network Interface Device (NID). You don’t need the time to install the NID. You save dollars if you avoid conduit and the NID by going with the EZ-Bend Single Family Drop Solution to the home into the home straight to the ONT.
That’s what’s new in my world. Thank you for listening.
Hi, I’m Mark Boxer Technical Manager for Solutions and Applications Engineering for OFS and this is what’s new in my world.
We are seeing a tremendous amount of recognition around the country that fiber is the answer for connectivity now and into the future. We’ve seen just unprecedented interest in fiber networks around the country and the benefits that bandwidth brings to an area and specifically with a focus in rural areas. I live in a rural area this is an old, restored farmhouse and we are seeing a lot of interest in broadband even in very remote and rural areas. The Fiber Broadband Association is in the process of publishing some projections showing that demand for a household will exceed a gigabit per second.
This demand is coming from a lot of different places. It’s coming from the use of high-resolution video, all of the different applications that we’re running, as well as augmented reality and virtual reality. We’re starting to see a lot of these trickle into daily life today. We expect that these types of technologies will continue to get more accepted over the decade leading to a lot of increase in demand for bandwidth. Fiber is really the only way to build a future proof network. We are also seeing a high level of interest in next generation PON platforms including XGS-PON, NG-PON2. These are platforms that use different wavelengths than the networks that we’ve been deploying primarily for the last 15 to 20 years. These wavelengths are a little bit different because they are a little bit longer and they’re also a little bit more bend sensitive. Which means that we’re also a little bit more focused on bend sensitivity and making sure that these networks are viable for decades to come as more of these applications and more of these protocols come online and onto the networks.
If you’ve been using OFS fiber for years you know this is something you’ve probably heard about for a long period of time. It’s something your network is well prepared for. There has been lots of innovation especially over the last few years with fiber. There have been some groundbreaking technologies introduced and one of those is the concept of rollable ribbon. We see rollable ribbon making its way really into all parts of the network and we think that’s going to bring a tremendous amount of benefits to network operators including higher density. Once you have higher fiber density you can put more fibers into a smaller space. That frees up a lot of benefits with underground networks because you can pack more fibers into a smaller duct. For aerial networks now you can go longer distances with less sag or less weight on your poles so a lot of different benefits there. Also, since it’s a ribbon then you get the benefit of ribbon splicing.
We’re seeing a lot of interest in rollable ribbon being applied throughout the network and on top of that we’re seeing a lot of interest in builds to the home, builds to the MDU. These networks have a lot of bends and so they require that their fibers have a lot of bend insensitivity and so we’ve seen a lot of builds of those kinds over the last six months to year.
At OFS we bring a lot of different solutions. If you’re a network operator don’t get overwhelmed that you have to use this technology or that technology. A lot of these are just different tools in the toolbox and you can mix and match to make your network the most sustainable and viable for the for the future and OFS can really help with that.
So, one of the things that we are happy to do is spend some time with you looking at the choices that go into the network. So if you’re interested in learning more about some of the choices and the trade-offs in their network and how we could potentially help with that please feel free to contact me or your OFS representative and we’d be happy to help.
Optical fiber-to-the-business deployment is accelerating globally to support increasing internet speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, and 10 Gigabit speeds that are already available in some regions. Service providers are responding by installing optical fiber both to and deep inside buildings to the living unit.
The Solutions in this 64-page guide can help reduce both first and life cycle costs of optical fiber deployments to residential and business customers.
Solutions for both Greenfield installation during building construction and Brownfield installation in existing buildings are included. Scalable and optimized to fit a broad range of building structures, these solutions offer faster, reliable installation through innovative labor saving technologies, using less space than conventional approaches.
Solutions for both indoor and outdoor deployment offer flexibility to use the best available pathways for each building. The solution building blocks include a wide range of terminals, splitters, point-of-entry modules, riser cables, attic and wall fish fiber, hallway fiber and complete indoor living unit fiber kits. This portfolio allows service providers to select the best solution for each building, and OFS can help design building specific solutions and bills of material as a value added service.
OFS fiber-to-the-subscriber (FTTx) solutions help to revolutionize the speed of installing fibers; enhance the customer experience; minimize disruption; reduce labor costs; increase subscriber take rates; enable faster time to revenue for service providers; and get Gigabit and higher speeds faster to subscribers.
OPTICAL FIBER BUILDING CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
Time to revenue: Fast and easy to install pre-terminated solutions can speed installation and reduce labor costs.
No pathways, requiring labor intensive cut and patch: Compact surface mounted fiber solutions.
Limited closet space: Smaller enclosures can enable installation of multiple operator connections in a small telecommunications closet.
Multiple boxes for splicing and splitter connections: Single box pre-terminated solutions can require less space and enable faster provisioning.
No duct space: Compact surface mounted fiber solutions either inside or on the outside of the building do not require duct.
Shared infrastructure: Compact cables can support multiple service providers in telecommunication pathways.
Fiber bends around many corners: Bend-insensitive fiber specified to support bend radius as low as 2.5 mm.
Disruptive/noisy to tenants: Optical solutions that are virtually invisible can be installed quickly and quietly and preserve the building decor.
Service disruptions and lost subscribers: Full solution of fiber, cable and connectors from one company, designed to work together. Factory tested to Tier 1 standards.
Multiple building types: Solutions to fit each building type.
PRE-TERMINATED vs. FIELD TERMINATED OPTICAL FIBER
Pre-terminated solutions are increasingly used to install fiber in Multiple Dwelling Unit (MDU) buildings to save time and money in higher labor cost regions. Pre-terminated products with built-in slack management are preferred so installers can neatly manage excess slack and use a single component to support multiple deployment lengths. Nevertheless, field terminated solutions can complement pre-terminated parts of the indoor or outdoor network and, for low labor cost markets, field terminated solutions may be preferred. OFS offers both pre-terminated and field terminated solutions to fit the needs of each service provider.
OPTICAL FIBER SPECIFICATIONS OPTIMIZED TO THE APPLICATION
Installing optical fiber in buildings and homes often requires conforming the fiber around sharp corners. EZ- Bend® Single-Mode Fiber offers outstanding bend performance down to a 2.5 mm radius for the most challenging in-residence and MDU applications. Compatible with the installed base of conventional G.652.D single-mode fibers, the fiber meets and exceeds ITU-T G.657.B3 recommendations. EZ-Bend fiber uses patented, groundbreaking EZ-Bend Optical Technology from OFS to provide three times lower loss at tight bends than competing G.657.B3 products.
Centralized, Distributed and Distributed Cascaded Splitting
As FTTx deployment accelerates globally to meet increasing bandwidth needs, service providers must install optical fiber both to and inside the building for business and residential subscribers. Building types include duplexes, garden style, low rise (less than 10 floors), mid rise (10 to 15 floors), high rise (16 to 40 floors) and skyscrapers (40 floors and above). To provide building Gigabit services, providers must place optical cables in building risers and ducts, install optical fiber in hallways, and then take this fiber deep into the units, connecting to an indoor Optical Network Terminal (ONT). How can providers accomplish this in buildings that can vary widely in design, materials and available pathways?
Splitter Architectures
A typical PON network consists of the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) in a central office, head end or cabinet, connected by a feeder cable to optical splitters, and then to distribution cables downstream in the network. Choosing the right architecture depends upon end-user density, projected subscription rates and distance from the OLT. Splitter placement is important in FTTx design as it can significantly affect plant and electronics costs.
Three common types of splitter architectures are used when deploying FTTx:
Centralized splitting
Distributed splitting
Distributed cascaded splitting
To help meet these needs, the OFS portfolio supports all three splitter architectures, and features a broad range of solutions to meet the requirements of virtually any MDU deployment. For flexibility and regional preferences, these offers include a mix of pre-connectorized, in-field fusion splicing and mechanical connector solutions from which OFS can configure customized designs for each type of building.
Brownfield Outdoor Facade Solution
The Outdoor Facade Solution is used when property owners want to preserve the decor of the building exterior. The compact EZ-Bend Indoor/Outdoor cable is placed vertically on the exterior wall of the residence from an outdoor wall mount box to an indoor SlimBox® unit. The indoor SlimBox can be factory configured with SCA adapters or fanouts for a pre-terminated solution, or for fusion splicing. EZ-Bend jumpers are used for the path to each living unit. Pre-terminated EZ-Bend Jumpers are recommended for faster installation, or a mechanical connector may be used for field termination in the SlimBox Wall Plate. The 80×80 InvisiLight® Module can be used as a “fiber extension” to any location in the living unit. Alternatively, instead of EZ-Bend jumpers, the InvisiLight MDU solution may be placed in the hallway to the living units (not shown).
Brownfield Outdoor Facade Solution
Greenfield Pre-Terminated Solution
TELECOMMUNICATION ROOM
Compact basement box for a progressive customer activation;
The basement box (SlimBox 64F Terminal) allows fusion splices for the outside plant cable;
Ideal for buildings with low penetration rates: One splitter can be installed and the management of the customers is done through the SCA ports. A parking area permits easy connection of new customers;
Several boxes can be connected for modular expansion. Connections between multiple SlimBoxes are possible through access openings between them.
RISER BACKBONE
SCA pre-terminated cables for quick plug and play installation;
EZ-Bend patch cords directly from the apartment unit may be used for small buildings.
HORIZONTAL DEPLOYMENT
Direct deployment from the telecommunication closet to the apartment unit;
Ideal for Greenfield installation;
The EZ-Bend jumper is connected to an adapter installed in the SlimBox Wall Plate (inside the living unit).
INSIDE THE LIVING UNIT
An SCA mechanical connector can be used to terminate the EZ-Bend Jumper inside the living unit;
The InvisiLight ILU Solution is a complementary product used to extend the fiber inside the apartment.
Greenfield Fusion Spliced or Field Terminated Solution
TELECOMMUNICATION ROOM
Compact basement box for a progressive customer activation (parking up to 48 connectors in the SlimBox 64F Terminal);
The basement box (SlimBox 64F Terminal) allows fusion splices for the outside plant cable and the internal cables (up to 96 fusion splices – 8 splice trays with 12 splices in each one);
Ideal for buildings with low penetration rate: One splitter can be installed with management of the customers done through the SCA ports. A parking area permits easy connection of new customers;
Several boxes can be connected for modular expansion. Connections between SlimBoxes are possible through access openings between them.
RISER BACKBONE
ACCUMAX® cables may be used for quick and easy installation:
SCA pre-terminated pigtails are used for fusion splicing inside the basement and floor boxes.
HORIZONTAL DEPLOYMENT
Direct deployment from the telecommunication closet to the apartment unit through EZ-Bend cable (ruggedized 3.0 or 4.8 mm);
The horizontal cable is fusion spliced or field terminated with a mechanical connector in the SlimBox 12F Terminal (floor distribution box) and in the SlimBox Wall Plate (inside the living unit).
INSIDE THE LIVING UNIT
An SCA mechanical connector can be used to terminate the EZ-Bend Jumper inside the living unit or a pre-terminated pigtail can be used;
The InvisiLight ILU Solution is a complementary product used to extend the fiber inside the apartment.
Compact basement box for progressive customer activation;
The basement box (SlimBox™ 64F Terminal) allows fusion splices to the outside plant cable;
Ideal for buildings with low penetration rate: One splitter can be installed with management of the customers done through the SCA ports. A parking area permits easy connection of new customers;
Boxes can be added for modular expansion. Connections between SlimBox units are easily made using jumpers through multiple ports designed into the box.
RISER BACKBONE
SCA pre-terminated cables for quick plug and play installation:
It is possible to place InvisiLight 2.0 mm 12-Fiber multifiber cord directly from the basement box and down hallways in small or garden style buildings.
HORIZONTAL DEPLOYMENT
The InvisiLight MDU Point of Entry (POE) Module offers a discrete solution using field termination inside the module;
Virtually invisible installation using the InvisiLight 12F Pre-terminated 2.0 mm cord.
INSIDE THE LIVING UNIT
InvisiLight ILU Solution is complementary and connects to the InvisiLight MDU installation;
InvisiLight ILU Solution is installed with the same tools and procedures as the InvisiLight MDU Solution
This 64-page guide with illustrations and part specifications will help in selecting the right fiber optic cables and accessories to reduce both the first and life cycle costs of fiber deployments to business customers inside buildings.
How do you make a great fiber optic solution even better? One way is to make the optical fiber less visible while also faster and easier to install.
The new InvisiLight® Indoor Living Unit (ILU) 600 Solution from OFS is setting a new benchmark for low-profile visibility. This new solution offers fast and virtually undetectable, indoor optical fiber installation for homes, offices, and multiple living units (MDUs).
To provide Wi-Fi coverage, Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and Fiber-to-the-Business (FTTB) service providers often install compact Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) deep into subscriber homes and offices. This equipment can clash with the existing décor, upsetting customers, and also create deployment issues for installers. In fact, some customers actually cancel service orders when they realize that unsightly, conventional fiber optic cables or tapes will be installed in their homes. On top of this, tight spaces, corners, architectural features, and other factors can create barriers to indoor optical fiber deployments. Fortunately, the portfolio of InvisiLight Optical Solutions was specifically designed to help meet these challenges.
Launched in 2012, the original, award-winning InvisiLight ILU Solution offers installers an innovative and simple method for indoor optical fiber installation. The process involves adhering a 0.9 mm diameter optical fiber into either crevices along ceilings and walls or moldings and walls. The result is a protected optical fiber link that is virtually invisible.
While the InvisiLight 600 ILU Solution features an even smaller 0.6 mm optical fiber, it uses the same easy installation process and tools as the original InvisiLight Solution. And, with less than half the volume and weight, the InvisiLight 80×80 Module’s storage capacity is more than doubled from 10 to 25 meters (83 feet).
All InvisiLight products, including the ILU 600 Solution, feature leading-edge OFS EZ-Bend® Optical Fiber. This fiber’s 2.5 mm minimum bend radius easily handles the sharp corners often encountered when installers conform optical fiber to a building.
In fact, in a recent field trial in Europe, an InvisiLight Solution received excellent feedback, including:
“We’re a big fan of EZ-Bend. I am amazed at some of the runs we have used it on with no apparent losses
(extreme bends, harsh pulls etc.).” – UK Service Provider
“This is the best indoor solution we have seen. Adhesive and cable are very easy to work with. Cannot
believe the low loss measured. The end customer is impressed.” – Large Ireland Network Services
The newest member of the OFS outside plant (OSP) rollable ribbon fiber optic cable line, the AccuRoll DC RR Cable offers twice the fiber density of comparable, standard flat ribbon cables in a smaller and lighter-weight cable. And, this cable is the first and only central core rollable ribbon design that features familiar linear strength elements and a protective central core tube. This core tube delivers enhanced safety for the rollable ribbons beyond that offered by other flexible ribbon cables.
What Are Rollable Ribbons? The AccuRoll DC RR Cable features rollable ribbons, the most exciting technology breakthrough in OSP cabling in years. This technology literally doubles the density of a fiber optic cable while reducing that same cable’s size and weight.
Rollable ribbons are formed by partially bonding individual 250 micron optical fibers to each other at predetermined points. These flexible ribbons can be rolled into very tight bundles for twice the density. Inside the fiber optic cable, rollable ribbons behave much like traditional ribbons, allowing highly efficient splicing using traditional flat ribbon splicing machines and procedures. The rollable ribbons can also be easily broken out into single or multiple fibers and routed.
Available with 144 to 432 fibers in both metallic and dielectric designs, there’s an AccuRoll DC RR Cable to meet the needs of your application. These fiber optic cables are an excellent choice for connecting data centers or in underground, direct buried, and lashed aerial deployments.
Think about it: doubling your network’s fiber density means doubling your transmission capacity, doubling your capability, and doubling your ability to get the job done.
Searching for an innovative fiber optic termination tool or kit? Then look no further: the FITEL EZ-Terminator tool is here.
The newest member of the FITEL Connectivity Solutions portfolio, the EZ-Terminator connector termination tool uses a simple, one-step operation and user-friendly interface to achieve the highest-quality terminations, quickly and under the most demanding conditions.
This handheld connector termination tool combines portability with a ruggedized body to provide the maximum accessibility and powerful performance needed for use in Multiple Dwelling Unit (MDU) and Single-Family Unit (SFU) installations. In addition, the EZ-Terminator tool’s industry-first, patented, removable V-groove allows easy cleaning and optical maintenance.
User-Friendly Design – The wide operation chamber offers easy optical fiber loading and connector assembly;
Simple Operation – The design allows one-touch operation and pre-installed programs for error-free SOC fiber termination projects;
Excellent Visibility – Three LED lights illuminate the entire operating chamber with more than 300 Lux. This intense bright light is critical to performing connector terminations in low-light environments.
Industry-First, Patented, Removable V-Groove – The industry’s only removable V-groove makes cleaning and optimal maintenance easy to achieve in only minutes and with no tools. This capability reduces downtime and supports optical performance.
Combined with a variety of EZ!Fuse™ SOC Components, the EZ-Terminator connector termination tool helps to save both time and money by delivering optical loss performance and yields that substantially surpass those of currently-available mechanical connectors. And, on top of this, the large battery capacity can achieve 100 termination/heating cycles on a single charge, providing installers with portability without sacrificing performance.
The EZ-Terminator connector termination tool’s simple, error-free operation and powerful, consistent performance make it a must-have for any fiber termination project where the highest-quality, repeatable results are critical.
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Searching for an innovative fiber optic termination tool or kit? Then look no further: the