Draka BendBright-XS™ Sales Exceed 250,000km Mark
Industry leading bend-insensitive fiber sales volume driven by FTTH deployments by major telecommunications providers
 FTTH Conference, Nashville, September 17 , 2008 -- Draka Communications, a global leader in the optical fiber industry, today announced that it has surpassed the 250,000 km (150,000 miles) mark for sales of BendBright-XS, its industry-leading bend-insensitive optical fiber, since its introduction in 2006. For perspective, 250,000 km is enough optical fiber to encircle the earth 6 times over!
The demand for BendBright-XS has been driven mainly by large scale deployments of FTTH access networks both in the US and Europe by the major telecommunications providers in those regions. With these access networks extending all the way to single family homes and more recently multi-dwelling units (MDUs), the need has surfaced for a robust, easy to install optical fiber that can endure the rigors of traditional copper cable installations. BendBright-XS answers these rapidly emerging market demands with its patented design, yet does not have the technical complications, such as splicing and connectorization, of other bend-insensitive fibers recently introduced into the market.
“We’re delighted by the recognition that our world-class fiber is receiving since we introduced BendBright-XS in 2006”, said Jan-Willem Leclercq, Vice President of Marketing, Draka Communications. “BendBright-XS is reshaping the deployment processes of the broadband industry for next generation network access, while stimulating miniaturization trends in connectivity hardware”.
Meeting stringent industry standards
BendBright-XS, Draka’s flagship bend-insensitive fiber, first introduced in 2006 and commercially available for over two years, uses a “trench-assisted” index profile to achieve the highest level of bend performance on the market, meeting the most stringent industry standard for bend-insensitive fiber, ITU-T G.657.B. With approximately 100X microbending and 100x macro bending performance improvement over standard single mode fiber, BendBright-XS is ideal for access networks where cables and fibers are subjected to tight bends and the rigors of harsh installation techniques such as the stapling of cables. BendBright-XS is also unique because it is the first and only commercially available all-glass fiber on the market that meets and exceeds the stringent ITU-T G.657.B bending requirements, yet maintains full backwards compatibility with existing single mode fibers, meeting ITU-T G.652.D.
Draka Communications introduced the first generation bend-insensitive fiber, BendBright, in 2002. Updated in 2005 to conform to low water peak standards, G.652.D, BendBright is a G.657.A fiber, with approximately 10x bending improvement over standard single mode fiber. The success of BendBright fiber is highlighted by the AT&T award “2005 Supplier Innovator of the Year”, given to Draka for FTTH drop cable based on BendBright fiber. The second generation bend-insensitive fiber BendBright-XS, a G.657.B fiber with approximately 100x bending improvement over standard single mode fiber, was introduced in 2006.
About Draka
Draka, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a €2.8 billion, publicly listed (Euronext) company with 9,550 employees worldwide. As from 2008, Draka’s activities are divided into three Groups: Energy & Infrastructure, Industry & Specialty and Communications.
Draka Communications is a world leader in the development, production and sale of optical fiber, cable and cable systems. Draka has 68 operating companies in 30 countries throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia.
For more information please visit www.draka.com.
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For More Information Contact
Alain Bertaina, Draka Communications,
Tel: + 33 130776306 or alain.bertaina@draka.com
Terry Davidson, The
Communications Group, Tel: +32 2 640 92 07 or terry@eurocom.be
(high definition photo available)
BendBright-XS is a registered trademark of Draka.
Photo caption: Sales success of Draka BendBright-XS - 250,0000km produced since 2006 is enough to encircle the earth 6 times!
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