Draka’s BendBright-XS meets new G.657 ITU categories for bendinsensitive fibers

Ensures end-to-end fiber consistency with higher levels of performance from point-of-presence to customer premises

Future-proofs FTTH access network infrastructure roll-outs BendBright-Elite complies with new sub-category for extreme applications

Amsterdam, October 21, 2009-- Draka Communications, a global leader in the cable and optical fiber industry today announces that its bend-insensitive BendBright-XS fiber fully complies with the ITU’s new G.657.A2 sub-category, a key component of the recently updated ITU recommendation. The A2 category brings 100% compliance with G.652.D, as well as a hundredfold improvement in bending performance.

The A2 sub-category raises the level of fiber consistency throughout access networks, from the Point-of-Presence (PoP) to customer premises. This will result in reduced footprints for outside plant cables and connectivity, more resilient indoor cabling and endto- end availability of full fiber bandwidth from 1260 nm to 1625 nm in PON or point-topoint configurations. This high level fiber standard will help future-proof FTTH access network infrastructure roll-outs.

“Draka welcomes the latest ITU-T decision to update G.657 in line with today’s market developments.” said Jan-Willem Leclercq, Vice-President Business Development for Draka Communications. “BendBright-XS has always provided double compatibility with both G.657.A and G.657.B categories, assuring customers of state-of-the-art bending performance in total compliance with regular G.652.D single-mode fiber. Today, subcategory A2 validates our belief that ultimate bend-insensitivity should not come at the expense of sacrificing any of the parameters that have contributed to the success of G.652.D.”

The updated ITU-T G.657 recognizes that improved bending performance will further reduce costs for operators rolling out fiber to the home (FTTH), while still addressing current market concerns for end-to-end fiber consistency. This new ITU recommendation preserves fully the original A and B category structure for total backward compatibility with the previous G.657 version. The former A class is subsequently renamed to A1. An additional A2 category is created with a tenfold better bending performance than A1, bringing the A category to the level of the previous B category performance. The former ITU-T G.657.B class fiber is re-named B2. A new sub-category B3 acknowledges the need for tighter bend radii (down to 5 mm) for specialty applications in the B class, which demand exceptional bending performance yet do not impose G.652.D compliancy. B3 authorizes fibers with a lower mode-field diameter, or of a different construction.

BendBright-Elite, Draka’s ultra bend-insensitive fiber, is fully B3 compliant, while still meeting G.652.D standards. BendBright-Elite is targeted towards specialty applications and component intra-connections, as well as those indoor applications requiring extreme bending performance. Offering a low 5mm radius, BendBright-Elite secures against mechanical failure under extreme bending constraints and hostile environments by doubling the proof-test level during fiber production.

Originally proposed by Draka in 2004, ITU-T G.657 was first published in 2006. Draka is tasked with the Editorship role, with the mission to gather all industry views in a consensus for a straightforward guidance document for end-users. The revised G.657 recommendation helps define the limits of flexibility in fiber cables, allowing operators to deploy higher fiber-count cables with smaller diameters, cope with tighter corners in buildings, employ less-skilled labor to deploy the cable and so eliminate concerns about cables or fibers laid with a tight bend. This makes installation work more engineerfriendly, leading to lower installation costs. A further benefit is that closures for fiber can be half the size, an important factor where space is at a premium, for example in apartment buildings.

With access networks extending all the way to single family homes and multi-dwelling units, the industry has welcomed the emergence of a robust, easy to install optical fiber that can endure the rigors of traditional copper cable installations. Draka BendBright-XS has a patented design that eliminates the technical complications of splicing and connectivity. This year BendBright-XS output approaches a record million kilometer mark, the most deployed bend-insensitive fiber worldwide.