Retirees Hear about Fiber To The Home
Our November Coffee program speaker was Bob Whitman of Corning Cable Systems. His title is Program Manager - Fiber To The Home-North America. About 35 retirees and guests got an overview of the worldwide outlook for fiber optic links to the home, which is expected to see major growth over the next several years.
Whitman presented images to show how information is distributed from a central point to the home. It begins with fiber optic feeder lines from a central office to a local convergence point and from there through distribution lines to network access points (on utility poles or in hand holes) from which fiber optic drop lines connect to the home.
Corning Cable Systems opportunities are in the complete end to end passive portion of the network including fiber optic cable and associated hardware and equipment. New multiple fiber connector systems using “FlexNAP” connectors take much of the labor out of the installation and expansion process of providing fiber to the home. With FlexNAP units, Whitman said, connections are easily made through screw-on connections with no need for splicing.
Today, telecommunications service providers making installations are bundling capabilities to include voice, broad band and television service up front to minimize post-installation service costs. In today’s housing developments, developers are going with fiber systems with all units being wired with fiber to the home. The popularity and demand for high definition TV is driving this market, Whitman said.
Whitman said the new bendable fiber developed by Corning is ideally suited for Multiple Dwelling Unit (MDU) installations. With approximately 680 million MDUs globally the market opportunity is large. He explained that where the US is dominated by single-family homes and living units, the housing in Asia is primarily MDU. In Singapore, for example, where a proposed project is in development, 95 per cent of the residential buildings are MDUs. Bendable fiber is perfect for those structures. They can be bent, stapled and pulled as situation demands. That these fibers can be stapled and pulled is a feature that coaxial cable can’t provide.
In summary, Whitman presented a positive outlook for the global opportunities both for Corning and for Corning Cable Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Corning Incorporated headquartered in Hickory, NC. |
