First quarter demand is up 15% compared to previous year, driven by the rapid expansion of data centres and LANs deploying high-end OM3 and OM4 multimode fibre cable to meet high level performance requirements
September 20, 2011 – Draka, part of the Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, today announces a continuing strong market demand for multimode fibre, up 15% in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year. This multimode fibre market growth is being driven by the rapidly expanding number of data centres and LAN installations applying mainly high-end OM3 and OM4 multimode fibre cable to meet high performance data throughput requirements.
Over the same period the company has seen a steady transition from regular multimode towards bend-insensitive fibre, which is projected to reach a 50% share in this high end OM3/OM4 category by the end of the year. Last year customers were offered Draka branded bend-insensitive multimode fibre at the same price as non bend-insensitive fibre cables.
Higher grade multimode fibres are designed to be used in applications such as backbone connections in Local Area Networks (LAN) and data centres. OM4 multimode fibre cabling is ideal for 10Gb/s channel applications requiring a higher power budget, for example when more connectors are required, which is the situation within modern data centres. They are also suitable for 10Gb/s applications requiring distances longer than 300 metres as specified for OM3 fibres (engineered links up to 550 meters).
In 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s Ethernet solutions VCSELs with wider spectral width are used, reducing cable lengths to 100 metres for OM3 fibres and extending this to up to 150 meters when using OM4 multimode fibre. Now, Fibre Channel incorporates OM4 multimode fibre for its high speed solutions (16GFC and up). The benefits of multimode fibre technology, coupled with increasing bandwidth demand, means that data centre and LAN managers need to factor in this technology for 40 and 100 Giga-Bit Ethernet (GbE) solutions during this higher growth period. Failure to do so could lead to haphazardly deployed solutions which are inevitably expensive and complex.
In parallel to the market evolution of OM4 multimode fibre, cables containing bend-insensitive fibres continue to register strong demand from Draka customers and have already
earned substantial recognition by the industry. They offer measurable benefits, allowing reduced cable management, space and volume (reduced footprint cable cabinets) and decreased cost of ownership. Smaller diameter, flexible cables result in increased cabling density, alleviating the pressure that massive optical cabling puts on installation practices by eliminating bending as a critical factor for data signal loss.
Prysmian Group
Prysmian Group is world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry. With sales of some €7 billion (pro-forma 2010 Prysmian/Draka) and 22,000 employees across 50 countries and 98 plants, the Group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and provides the widest range of products, services, technologies and know-how. In the Energy sector, Prysmian Group operates in the business of underground and submarine power transmission cables and systems, special cables for applications in many different industrial sectors and medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure industry. In the Telecom sector, the Group manufactures cables and accessories for the voice, video and data transmission industry, producing optical fibres, optical cables and connectivity. Prysmian is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the Blue Chip index.
Information: www.draka.com/communications and www.prysmiangroup.com
Media Relations Telecom Business | Telecom Solutions
Lorenzo Caruso Thea Dullemans
Communication Director Marketing Communications Manager
Ph. 0039 02 6449.1 Ph. 00 31 20 568 9855
lorenzo.caruso@prysmian.com thea.dullemans@draka.com
Photo: Draka Multimode fibre market growth is up 15% in Q1, 2011, driven by the rapidly expanding number of data centres and LAN installations demanding high-end OM3 and OM4 multimode fibre cable.