For several decades developments in optical fibre and cable have centred on getting more information down higher performance fibres housed within ever more compact cables designed to be pulled, blown or pushed into their desired locations. However, in parallel with this work, cable developers have been trying to make cables easier to use.

Re-enterable cables

Where network users are added progressively it’s clear that a cable that runs a considerable distance will need to be opened up several times to use the appropriate fibre(s) for that new user. In the past, this has been achieved by leaving coils of cable in chambers along the route, so that when new service is needed the cable can be broken partially stripped back to its component loose tubes, the strength member cut and the remaining loose tubes coiled at the back of the joint with one loose tube exposed so that drop fibres can be spliced to it. Even for experienced craft people this is an involved procedure, it takes considerable time and is relatively expensive to accomplish. Moreover, it requires the original cable to be of loose tubes design, always required a fibre join and, usually, involves at least 12 fibres when perhaps only one or two are required. If all that was not enough,

Retractable Cables

Rather than trying to make traditional cables fit a new requirement, it makes sense to make a cable to fit the requirement. Perhaps the best way to do this is to produce a hybrid cable-duct design where a relatively stiff, strong outer casing is used to contain a variety of fibre ‘modules’. Some of these modules will be used to drop service to individual customers, whilst others will be used for backbone traffic where the fibre passes along the entire cable section. With this kind of construction different fibre count modules can be incorporated and the mix between backbone traffic modules (typically 12 fibres) and drop traffic (typically 1 to 4 fibres) can be varied according to network requirements.

Let’s explore the properties expected of such a cable. Firstly, the cable should ideally be usable direct in a duct. There is little point in directly burying this cable type (breakout locations will have to be built from scratch) and since the outer casing is effectively a duct, it would be overkill to install the product into a sub duct. Therefore, the cable is likely to be pulled into a main duct. It should have sufficient tensile strength for this purpose, so typically a 1W or 1.5W rating is ideal. Often these cables are used in shared ducts so, from a safety perspective, an all dielectric strength member is advised. The sheathing or casing must be sufficiently robust to survive ‘window cutting’ (which we will look at below) but it must be removable by the tooling supplied. So, what exactly is the necessary tooling to use these cables? The answer to that depends on the way the user wants to operate the cable. In the original version, the cable is window-cut at the nearest chamber to the new customer. This requires the use of a tool which removes a few cms of casing to expose the fibre modules on the upper part of the cable. The tool can be manually operated, needs to have no exposed blades and must produce a repeatable ‘window’. The selected module is cut at one end of the exposed window and spliced to a drop fibre. In a different version, two window cuts are performed 10s of metres apart (with the same type of tool). The selected module is cut at the distant location and it is pulled back to the customer chamber. From there it is fed down a customer drop duct, either by pushing or air assisted pushing. There is an interesting variation of this second technique. It uses an ingenious, flexible, cutting tool to cut the selected module some metres away from a single window cut. In this way, the selected fibre can be withdrawn without having to access a second chamber. Finally, at least one installation equipment producer has attempted to store a pulled back module in a cassette arrangement on the equipment so that it can be more easily blown down the drop duct.

It is all very well chopping a hole in the cable and extracting fibres but it then needs to be made good. Inevitably this means specialised joints that cover the cut, splice the fibre (if needed) and seal against water are needed. It is important to seal each joint as this is an ‘open’ cable and one leaking joint means it’s likely the entire cable will fill with water.

Emtelle’s newly launched retractable solution RTRYVA  is an incredibly flexible duct system which can be accessed at any point along its length and fibre can be easily accessed and configured to drop directly to a home/business where fibre provision is required. With various advantages over traditional cabling solutions, RTRYVA offers space, product and installation cost savings, RTRYVA offers >€80 / home for Brown Field applications due to the fact that its density of fiber can accommodate 96 home drops from a single Ø15mm duct. When planning a new build (Green Field) build, if planned before Civils / digging, then additional savings of €60 / home on access chamber costs can be achieved giving total cost savings of €140 / home.

Watch RTRYVA simple installation process here:

As with all choices, the facts dictate the option! One key consideration is the environment the cable is entering. Retractable cables are often the choice of a second network company and are therefore required to fit into a congested environment; frequently the network owner will offer a limited space and so the best choice of retractable cable will often by the one that offers the largest number of fibre modules. Joints need to be carefully considered and need to be made to fit the cables specifically. The biggest decision is whether to go for a one window cut or two window cut variant. Operationally, a single cut product is much more attractive since the time and disruption to deploy is greatly reduced. A spliced connection has the great advantage that it means any drop length can be provided, however if the customers are generally near to the chamber a more reliable solution is to withdraw the module and feed it back into a drop duct (albeit usually with a second cut). In all cases the ability to use a remote cut tool to provide sufficient fibre to handle is a near necessity.  But whichever option a second operator chooses, using any retractable cable avoids the need to store cable loops in every chamber – just in case – and avoiding that means avoiding unnecessary costs!

The post Is there a New Category of Cable? appeared first on Emtelle.

I, and everyone at Emtelle, would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their continued business and support for 2016. We appreciate your business and our continued relationship.

2016 Review

A good year! After a pretty busy 2014, 2015 we still managed to increase sales by 15% in 2016, when measured in local currencies.

This year, we seen a growing need for solutions and not just individual products – so we put emphasis on solutions and supporting our clients in deploying the solutions to a high standard to get maximum quality in a network build. We launched various new innovative products this year, including our pre-connectorised fibre microduct bundle QWKconnect, our retractable fibre solution RTRYVA, and our newest tube bundle MultiFu – all specifically developed with ease of installation in mind.

What do we expect for 2017?

Next year the pressure will be on better delivery, better quality and better service – as usual.

Around the world, we expect there will be a shortage of skilled engineers in some countries, and so the de-skilling is seen by Emtelle as an area we will focus on in the future. We expect a focus on “plug and play” products that de-skills this deployment process, such as our Emtelle QWKconnect – a pre-connectorised microduct system.

Major product lines for the year, which show the evolution of fibre unit and duct into easily installed fibre-in-duct products, combining both parts of our heritage in telecoms, include pre-cabled and fibres that are retracted from the microducts and then deployed to each home/business by pushing, pulling or other low cost installation techniques.

Blown fibre continues to be our largest selling product range for FTTX globally, and will continue to be like this for many years to come due to its cost effectiveness and network flexibility. There are many similarities between our blown and non-blown solutions, meaning that we can still provide a dedicated duct pathway to a home or business without the need to always blow fibre in.

As mentioned, we plan to exhibit at even more exhibitions worldwide. We are already confirming plans for FTTH Conference in Marseille in February this year, with a state-of-the-art stand, an Emtelle workshop on “A Checklist for Sustainable FTTH networks & Closing the Skills Gap of Fibre Deployment”, and our international business development manager, Colin Kirkpatrick, presents “8 Ways to Capitalise and Save Costs on FTTH Provision”. Visit us on stand G11 at the FTTH Council Exhibition from the 14^th-16^th February, Palais de Congres, Marseille, France.

And it’s not just European events we plan on exhibiting at in 2017. We are very excited about exhibiting at FTTH LATAM on 28-30 March in Buenos Aires, where we are a Platinum Sponsor – please visit us on stand 31. We also plan to exhibit at FTTH Fiber Connect 12-14 June in Orlando, and look forward to meeting new and existing customers at the event.

To conclude, 2017 will be about better delivery, better quality and better service. We look forward to the challenges and achievements the year will bring, and look forward to serving you in 2017 and beyond.

Best Regards,
Mads A. Høgfeldt

CEO, Emtelle

The post State of Business 2016 appeared first on Emtelle.

It’s time for another #B4RN Show-Tell day. These now legendary events are an opportunity to meet up with like minded folk, to learn and share the knowledge of rural broadband deployment. These are great events for communities who want to learn how deploy a community based world class broadband network. They are free to attend thanks to our sponsors.

The date for the tenth Show-Tell day is set for the Tuesday 4th April 2017. These events have been extremely popular and have allowed valuable information to be shared. The day includes field visits to see various aspects of the B4RN community fibre broadband deployment.

The event, as before will be jointly hosted by B4RN and Emtelle in Lancaster and the surrounding B4RN area. The day will focus on sharing experiences and demonstrating installation techniques for rural fibre to the home/broadband initiatives.
Topics to be covered include:-

The post B4RN Show-Tell Day #11 appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle retains it’s RISQS certification as an approved supplier to the rail industry.

RISQS – a third party qualification assessment of a supplier’s capability to supply products and services – is the single entry point for suppliers to the rail industry. Buyers of products and services throughout the GB rail industry use RISQS as its supplier qualification service. This means RISQS supports companies such as Network Rail, Transport for London, passenger and freight operating companies, rolling stock organisations, main infrastructure contractors, and many other buying organisations, in the management of supply chain risk. RISQS organisation are managed by Achilles Group LTD, which increases the market reach between trading partners, by creating and managing, a global network of combined industry communities.

Emtelle highly regards their responsibility as a high quality product and service provider to the market place, and therefore, were happy to be thoroughly assessed by RISQS, to ensure the industry can easily recognise Emtelle as a competent supplier of high standard products within the rail industry. Such organisations can therefore be confident in using Emtelle’s products and services, knowing that the company qualifies with rail industry requirements.

“Emtelle has over 30 years of striving for excellence. The results of our RISQS assessment is further proof of this and is another step in us moving towards supplying our leading-edge solutions to the rail industry.”

Simon Wade, Sales Manager (Rail/FTTx), Emtelle UK Ltd

For more information on the products and services Emtelle provides, visit the rail sector section.

You can read more about RISQS and the principles behind the award here: http://www.risqs.org/

View our RISQS certificate here 

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Emtelle are pleased to announce that we have expect to surpassed sales over 1000km of our RTRYVA product range. The RTRYVA product was officially launched at the FTTH conference in Luxembourg in February 2016 and the interest generated from the launch and subsequent press releases has driven significant demand for the product range.

RTRYVA has now developed from a single 15mm duct with 12 or 24 x 2 fibre bundles to a product range that extends upto 25mm in diameter with upto 48 different fibre bundles that have fibre counts of 2,4,6,8 or 12 fibres per bundle.

Emtelle have since developed our EMU box for branching the drop fibres to homes and businesses which has been certified to comply to IP68 rating.

Within the RTRYVA duct, multiple loose fibers are installed during manufacture to give a very flexible FTTX solution where duct access & branching from the RTRYVA is quick and easy and uses the minimal amount of tools, training and installation equipment. Fibers are accessed, excess fiber is pulled back out of the duct, then branched to the home / business through a dedicated drop duct. Fiber installation to inside the home / business is carried out by pushing or pulling.

Emtelle RTRYVA is a High Density Pull back cable specifically designed for FTTX that offers space, product and installation cost savings of >€80 / home or business for Brown Field applications due to the fact that its density of fiber can accommodate 96 drops from a single Ø15mm duct. When planning a new build (Green Field) build, if planned before Civils / digging, then additional savings of €60 / home or business on access chamber costs can be achieved giving total cost savings of €140 / home or business.

Emtelle pride ourselves in innovating and delivering best in class products to our clients and the RTRYVA product range has surpassed our sales expectations since launch. We look forward to further growth in the coming years and look forward to developing an even wider range of products to suit many different global applications for FTTX.

For more information on RTRYVA view our brochure here

Here’s a quick clip to show how easy RTRYVA is to install:

The post Emtelle RTRYVA Surpasses 1000km of Sales appeared first on Emtelle.

We all know that the purchase price of optical fibre has come down significantly due to huge increases in production capacity and increased efficiency. There are still price pressures on the polymers used in cable products which depend on oil prices and exchange rates but for fibre consumers the picture has been positive. However, the purchase cost of cable for a network is usually less than 10% of the project total so it’s the cost of ownership over the fibre’s life that needs considering

Network Changes

Blown systems allow cable to be provided by a single installer at short notice. Where that cable is a higher fibre count, expanding capacity over a lower count product, the smaller cable can be recovered and used elsewhere. Spliced-in, non-ducted, cable is often difficult to remove and is not usually in a state to be re-deployed. The other main reason to change cable is to improve the fibre type. Fibre types have evolved over the 25-year typical life of external plant, from G.651 (multimode) to G.652 and G.652D singlemode, through the ill-fated G.653 dispersion shifted fibre to G.655 NZDS fibre, to the current G.657 bend resistant types. In the future, multi-core and ‘holey’ fibres are likely to dominate!

Using the ‘tube’ level as a capacity management tool

Underground space is rarely easily won and main ducts (around 100mm in diameter) are often congested with a few heavy cables that makes the installation of smaller cables a challenge. By overlaying a multi-tube bundle the user gets a number of discrete and separately routable pathways. At the tube level routing, can be carried out by simple to apply and low cost push-fit connectors combined with simple duct break-out ‘joints’ with no need for fibre closures. Moreover, in a multi-user shared or dark fibre network, different owners can own different tubes and they can be routed to different chambers to allow connection according to each user’s needs. With a conventional cable network, shared ownership must take place at the cable level. This means that all customers have to share the same joint – giving access issues, or the same cable must be repeatedly broken into, risking its integrity.

Network Planning

For both incumbent and new entrant carriers, planning where to deploy precious resources is always a major issue. Irrespective of the fibre price, it’s a finite resource and in limited supply currently so cannot be mis-allocated. However, forecasting the location of, and uptake percentage amongst, new customers is more difficult than ever because the number of customers and potential providers has never been greater. By building a base tube network – which itself can be easily extended – and populating it with the right number and type of fibres on demand, much of those concerns are eased.

From a purely financial perspective many new operators and funded by venture capital which demands a high and immediate Return on Investment. By deferring fibre costs – and that of associated fittings – money can be saved at all stages of the network life cycle.

Operational Considerations

Most travellers are familiar with the disruption caused by utility road works closing traffic lanes or entire road sections. Whilst this gas and water construction causes more upheaval, telecoms build is partly to blame. Heavy winching equipment, massive cable reels and a multi-worker team inevitably cause more disturbance than a single worker blowing-in a fibre unit or a relatively lightweight cable. Don’t forget that for the telco, disruption often equals cost as its common to have to pay for closing any kind of highway. Where that highway is a railway, those considerations – and costs – may have to be multiplied several times.

But there are situations where disruption would not only be expensive but it would compromise the location. One example is within hospitals where opening entries between sterile areas or closing treatment areas when conventional cable is laid is prohibited. Because different types of BF tubing can be jointed easily, a seamless path can be created; we will explore that a little more below.

A Unified network

Both owners and users would like a network where there are as few ‘joins’ as possible and where there are joints, it’s for flexibility purposes. Unfortunately, using a cable that transitions between above ground, underground and inside building locations invariably means three different cable types, three splice closures and 3 sets of splicing work. With a tube based system, it’s an easy task to push-fit connect aerial microduct to underground microduct to indoor microduct and blow through one fibre unit or cable with no splices or splice closures at all. In some situations, it’s even easier because the same microduct can be used throughout.

As well as saving the financial budget, this approach saves the network’s power budget and reduces the potential points of failure, because unnecessary, purely in-line, joints no matter how good (and pricey!) are inevitably a potential failure point.

Overall Time and Labour Considerations

It’s worth looking at the physical acts involved with fibre product blowing compared with the actions required to deploy either a direct bury cable or pull a traditional cable into a main duct. Direct burying requires either mole-ploughing in a rural area or in the built environment the use of traditional trenching. Trenching is hugely disruptive (with indirect costs) and has high direct costs whereas mole ploughing works only in certain conditions and in limited applications. When it comes to installing low count fibre products, especially for the ‘drop’ end of the network the ergonomic advantage of deploying extremely small and lightweight blown products is overwhelming. Typically, the installation rate for a 2-12 fibre unit is between 30 and 60 meters per minute and a single person can transport the product and the small blowing head and compressor – and they can do all this using a lightweight vehicle. However, in the literature it’s easy to find comments that it takes at least 4 people a full working day to install 1km of ‘traditional’ cable, when the use of heavy equipment, frequent chamber opening and roadworks preparation is considered. So, it’s little surprise that a network based on a multiple tube deployment, using on-demand, lightweight fibre units and cables not only offers a day-one price advantage but, more importantly, the best whole-life value.

The post What’s the Cost Benefit in using Blown fibre unit & Cable? appeared first on Emtelle.

It’s that time of year again, and we’ve got a busy first half of 2017 – here’s a quick overview to all the exhibitions we are exhibiting at around the world!

March 2017

FTTH Latam

28-30 March

Hilton, Buenos Aires Argentina

Stand 31

www.ftthcouncil.org/latamconference

April 2017

B4RN Show-Tell Day #11

04 April

Lancaster, UK

www.emtelle.com/b4rn-show-tell-day-11

Networkshop45

11-13 April

Nottingham Conference Centre, Nottingham UK

Stand 23

www.jisc.ac.uk/networkshop

BREKO Glasfasermess

25-26 April

Messe Congress Center Frankfurt, Germany

Stand 44

www.brekoverband.de/breko-glasfasermesse-2017

May 2017

Railtex

9-11 May

NEC, Birmingham, UK

Stand S02

www.railtex.co.uk

CommunicAsia

23-25 May

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, Asia

www.communicasia.com

Utility Week Live

23-24 May

NEC, Birmingham, UK

Stand E14

www.utilityweeklive.co.uk

ANGACOM

30 May – 01 June

Koelnmesse, Cologne, Germany

Stand A51

www.angacom.de/en.html

June 2017

CableX

07 June

UK

Stand B19/20

www.eatechnology.com/cablex2017

FTTH Connect

12-14 June

Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

Stand 429

http://www.ftthconnect.org/

Rørcenterdagene

14-15 June

Techological Institute, Taastrup, Denmark

The post Visit Emtelle at Worldwide Exhibitions appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle International Business Development Manager, Colin Kirkpatrick, launches brand new webinar on “8 ways to Capitalise and Save Costs on FTTH Provision”.

When it comes to deploying FTTH in Europe, one of the highest costs in FTTH roll-outs is the Civils elements of digging up the sidewalks, roads and drops to the home. Unfortunately, many years ago, a number of areas around Europe did not have enough ducting installed in the ground to cater for the FTTH networks that are being installed today, or cables were buried directly in the ground to save on some capital investment.

To save on digging up sidewalks and roads again in the far future, operators, large and small need to invest intelligently in what they put in the ground, so they maximise the asset that they decide to bury under the ground and get maximum revenue from either selling it in the future, leasing fibre / dark fibre or leasing duct space. This adds to the value of their network meaning that a smartly installed network can be worth a lot more in the future.

A metre of fibre costs €0.10,

A metre of 32mm duct costs €0.80,

A metre of trench costs €16.00.

Planning what ducts you put in the open trench and provisioning for fibre capacity for now and the future has never been as important as in 2017 and onwards.

When you look at Fibre provision, there are many options you can choose for a network and these have varying costs for each product, but it is important to look at the overall costs for FTTH past and connected, including all installation costs and future maintenance costs. Having this figure of total cost is important to any network operator. This changes from country to country and also changes depending on the ground types, house types and skill sets. More importantly, revenue only comes when you connect a home, so home connections have to be quick and easy to connect and maintain.

When choosing an FTTH solution, it is important to look at the following fundamentals:

1. Will there be a fibre shortage in the future, can I still install a scalable network in the ground to meet initial demands without compromising fibre provision in the future
2. What fibre count do I need to install in the feeder networks on day 1 and what do I need in the future.
3. Can I have inbuilt flexibility incase there are network or design changes in the future (ie change from PON to P2P)
4. Now do I make best use of existing Infrastructure
5. Can the customer drops / lead to cash be easily installed without high overheads
6. Are there ways to reduce prices on the civils aspect that does not increase prices on other parts of the build
7. How can I make sure that my network is as future proof as possible at a reasonably low investment?
8. Do I have a dedicated pathway to each home meaning I can easily maintain and add new fibre when the time comes?

Listen to Colin’s webinar below:

The post 8 Ways to Capitalise and Save Costs on FTTH Provision appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle Scandinavia A/S i Sdr. Felding lige syd for Herning beskæftiger 95 medarbejdere og er et vigtigt led i Emtelle koncernen, der består af 3 fabrikker i Storbritannien og Danmark samt salgsselskaber i Sverige, Tyskland, Holland, Malaysia, New Zealand og Australien. Emtelle Scandinavia A/S er på international plan en førende plastekstruderende virksomhed og leverer plastrørsystemer til fibernetværksløsninger inden for telekommunikation samt intelligente rørsystemer til vand og afløb, stærkstrøm, jordvarme og industri.

Da vi har travlt, søger vi nu en engageret og selvstændig kvalitetsmedarbejder til vores kvalitetsafdeling. Med base i afdelingen i Sdr. Felding og med reference til kvalitetschefen vil dine opgaver blive sammen med dine kollegaer at medvirke til at understøtte kvalitetsafdelingens drift samt foretage løbende dokumentation og afhjælpning ved afvigelser internt og eksternt.

Du får selvstændigt ansvar for dine opgaver, som vil være varierende og meget afvekslende.
Du skal desuden varetage intern audit.

Din baggrund og uddannelse er ikke afgørende. Vi lægger mere vægt på, at du har erfaring fra en lignende stilling i en produktionsvirksomhed.
Vi forstiller os, at du har minimum 3-5 års erfaring fra job som kvalitetsmedarbejder eller lignende og har erfaring med afvigelsesbehandling, reklamationsbehandling og intern audit.
Sprogligt er du flydende på dansk og engelsk i både tale og skrift, ligesom du behersker MS Office pakken og har du kendskab til Sherlock og C5 er det kun et plus.
 

Du er:
Vi søger en ny medarbejder, som er kendetegnet ved at være i besiddelse af gode samarbejdsevner og kan kommunikere med mange forskellige faggrupper. Desuden er du selvstændig, robust og har let til smil, også når det bliver lidt hektisk.
Din tilgang til opgaver og andre mennesker skal være positiv, og du må gerne have et smittende humør, også når opgaverne bliver rutine. Du skal sætte en ære i, at opgaver afleveres til aftalt tid og i aftalt kvalitet. Kort sagt – du leverer et godt stykke arbejde og dit arbejde er præget af et højt kvalitetsniveau.
Når situationen kræver det, er du fleksibel og yder den nødvendige indsats for at nå i mål.
 

Vi tilbyder:
Et spændende og udfordrende job i en afdeling, hvor vi også i en travl hverdag vil prioritere at have et godt arbejdsmiljø.
Oplæring så du bliver klædt på til at udfylde rollen bedst muligt.
 
Hvis det har din interesse, eller hvis du bare gerne vil høre lidt mere om stillingen, er du meget velkommen til at kontakte os for yderligere informationer: Birgitte Vestergaard, tlf.: 24 95 56 67
Vi indkalder løbende til samtale så vent ikke med at sende din ansøgning.
Kort motiveret ansøgning mailes til:
BirgitteV@emtelle.com

The post EMTELLE A/S I SDR. FELDING SØGER KVALITETSMEDARBEJDER TIL KVALITETSAFDELINGEN appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle announce brand new simple, yet incredibly useful Minicable Sheath Stripper.

As we all know it is necessary to strip the mini cable sheath jacket away from the cable ends or carry out a window cut to access the internal fibre tubes. This tool is used to strip the sheath from Emtelle’s blown fibre minicable. The newly launched minicable sheath stripper has a pre-set blade length which prevents damage to the fibre tubes within the minicable. We have 3 different tools to accommodate 3 different sizes of minicable as shown below:

Each minicable sheath stripper is supplied with 1 cassette. However there is the option to purchase additional cassettes in order to have 2 sizes on the 1 stripper tool. Details as follows:

Why use Emtelle Minicable Sheath Stripper?

Emtelle minicable sheath strippers are proven to:

• Reduce the time taken to strip the sheath
• Reduce the risk of damage to the cable
• Simplifies the sheath stripping process

How do you use Emtelle Minicable Sheath Stripper?

This short clip shows how simple it is use an Emtelle minicable sheath stripper effectively an correctly.

For more information, contact Emtelle technical team here

The post Emtelle Announce New Minicable Sheath Stripper appeared first on Emtelle.

We’ve previously looked at why blown, micro-ducted systems have proved so popular with users and concentrated on the operational and cost advantages of fibre deployment. However, in the immediate term, there is a further consideration: the availability of fibre.

The Capacity Picture

Since the dot.com crash of 1999-2000, optical fibre has been relatively freely available due to a combination of high production capacity and supressed demand. However, the recovery since 2008 has seen a steady increase in cable demand while capacity has been taken out of the market. In the UK alone, the only two major fibre production facilities no longer exist, one was dismantled and the other mothballed. Globally there has been a number of fibre plant closures amongst the ‘major’ manufacturers. Over 17 manufacturing plants have closed or are closing since 2012.

So what is global fibre capacity demand, and how is it broken down? The most reliable estimates put global demand at around 420 million fibre kms ( 420 mfkm). Fibre production capacity depends on two process factors (i) the pre-form capacity and (ii) the drawing capacity. Although fibre drawing capacity greatly exceeds demand (by approximately 50%), fibre pre-form production capacity is only around the 430 mfkm mark and the slight excess (less than 3%) is expected to be eliminated by the end of 2017 and a shortfall is anticipated, at least for a period of time.

Implications of Fibre surplus ending

Since there is still spare drawing capacity, especially in China, it is tempting to see if companies with drawing towers can somehow come up with fresh fibre supplies. This may be dangerous path as China is a vast consumer of fibre and its major users, led by China Mobile already take nearly all the annual 200 mfkm that the country produces. The little that is left may not be to the fibre standard required, or indeed may be the wrong type of fibre and lead to transmission problems ranging from high attenuation to incorrect dispersion performance and jointing mismatch. It also might be tempting to hang on for a very short time to purchase that high capacity cable. Well, fibre demand is predicted to rise ahead of supply until about 2020.

So, what steps can a rational customer take to overcome this?

1. Buy the fibre you need.

That means sufficient backbone capacity to meet short term needs, but put in place easily and rapidly expandable infrastructure for when additional fibre is needed and is available. The most Rapidly expandable infrastructure will include Blown Fibre.

2. Establish a relationship with a reputable fibre products supplier.

Like most aspects of life, relationships matter. If you are a network builder with, for example a 5 or 10 year build line, it may not be sensible to ‘spot buy’ cable. Establishing a medium to long term relationship will not only lead to a more secure supply chain, but frequently provides cost benefits in terms of volume discounts. Needless to say, it’s wise to pick a supplier of cable products that itself can demonstrate security of supply from its fibre maker.

3. Guarantee your fibre requirements by buying your passive components from one supplier

Emtelle are a manufacturer of HDPE ducts, Mini cable ducts, FTTH ducts and we also manufacture mini cables and fibre bundles. We shall prioritise supply of cable (in times of global shortages) to our clients who purchase our HDPE ducts and Blown Fibre solutions.

4. Pick the correct fibre!

It may seem obvious but even flagship communication providers have not always done this as we know from the problems caused by G.653 fibre when trying to use DWDM systems. More recently the debate about G.652D versus G.657A1 and A2 types has raged. In all cases talk to active equipment vendors as well as plant suppliers, in addition to your cable provider.

How can a microduct vendor help?

Microduct suppliers who provide a wide range of multiple duct bundles help in the first instance by allowing a rapid deployment path for future fibre in a time frame of typically up to 20 years. Not only will this see out any conceivable short term capacity issues, but it will facilitate the addition of new fibre types as they emerge. Two new technologies are known: ‘holey’ or micro-structured fibre and multi-core fibres. Both offer high capacity to the user and these products – along with as yet unknown developments – will almost certainly find their way into communications networks.

In this respect, Fibre to the Premise is the ‘known unknown’. It’s almost universally accepted that optical fibre to the building will become ubiquitous. Currently the EU+Russia has 30.4M FTTP users, China 130M and the US+Canada+S America 16M. However, for the EU FTTP penetration is only 9% (there are 200M homes in the EU in total). This means that FTTP maturity will be after 2025 for the EU. The exact timing is unknown and depends as much on political concerns and economic conditions as it does on technology. Microduct products have established themselves firmly in the FTTP space, indeed many users have or are putting microduct in the ground or aerially in anticipation of that 2025+ timeline.

Beyond FTTP there are two unknown unknowns where fibre demand is uncharted. In 2015 FTTP used a little over half of all the fibre deployed. Depending on how these two other sectors work out that proportion may fall dramatically. 5G networks which will carry a peak data rate of 20 Gb/s in new spectral bands will increase the number of base stations and fibre links – all by around 2020.

Guarantee = 20 Years Minimum Lifetime

The Future Technologies

However, it is potentially not the biggest opportunity for fibre. That lies with the Internet of Things (IoT) and its implications are only just emerging. The IoT is often thought of as a collection of white goods linked to a remote mobile phone. Whilst that may be one small segment, it won’t generate a lot of data and trouble network providers since it will likely be accommodated within existing FTTP use. The hidden side of the IoT involves vehicles, highways, public space cameras and other sensors. Amongst all those possibilities it is driverless vehicles that will likely turn out to be the ‘killer app’ since there are over 1 billion vehicles on the World’s roads and that figure is rising by nearly 10% a year. So within a little over 100 years we’ll move from tarmac to the iron (rail) road to the fibred, intelligent road that will transform every aspect of our lives.

Also, 5G and Wifi is nearing fruition as a step closer to offering superfast broadband to your vicinity which will also need a fibre feed to every antenna (and this fibre could possibly be used to connect homes in the future, if necessary).

Conclusion

With the possibility of fibre shortages, developments in fibre technology and the possibility that fibre to many homes will not mature until 2025, it is very hard to build a network and accommodate these possibilities. The most suitable way is to have an open and upgradeable network that can have fibre installed or upgraded rapidly. This is why so many companies around the world are choosing Emtelle’s Blown Fibre solution (branded Fibreflow) for building their Passive network layer. By choosing Fibreflow, they are alleviating any risk of fibre shortage or developments in fibre technology and at the same time, they are providing a dedicated fibre pathway to each home for the foreseeable future.

Emtelle’s Fibreflow solution can be slightly more expensive than a direct buried cable and similar solutions, but it gives the benefits of a fully flexible solution and the majority of our customers feel that the total overall costs throughout a networks lifetime is cheaper & easier to maintain and add customer connections than most other solutions in the market place.

In addition to this, when networks are being reviewed by operators with the thought of buying them to expand their footprint, they will look deeply into how to maintain and add future connections to the network. They understand the value of Blown Fibre networks and we are sure that they are willing to pay that bit extra to ensure that their network has the flexibility to be used for many years to come.

The post What does the Worldwide Fibre Shortage Mean for You? appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle have designed new CPR-compliant cables to meet the recently announced European CPR regulations. These new high classification cables reduce flame spread and introduce fewer hazardous substances in the event of a fire within a building.

This announcement made by the European Commission on Construction Product Regulations (CPR) controls construction materials installed within European buildings, and introduces new fire safety rules. The regulation states that all cables marketed in the European Economic Area (EEA) must carry a CE mark along with a formal Declaration of Performance (DOP) verifying compliance. These regulations come into force as of 01 July 2017 which mean manufacturers cannot supply cables unless they have been tested, certified and marked in accordance with the CPR requirements.

At Emtelle, we pride ourselves on compliance to worldwide regulations, and are delighted that our design and manufacturing capabilities allow to us to offer such necessary cables within an indoor environment to the FTTX market.

Read more on Emtelle CPR Cables and the new Emtelle LFH Multifu here

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Emtelle announce the launch of new Low Fire Hazard Multifu to the FTTH market.

Emtelle Multifu is an innovative tube bundle solution in which the microduct can be accessed at any point along its length via a window cut, then the required fibre length can be pulled back and pushed to each apartment, meaning no blowing is required.

To meet indoor fire regulations, Emtelle have manufactured MULTIFU out of LFH material, meaning it is suitable for use within buildings, and gives excellent performance in a fire scenario – meeting IEC 60332-3 and 60332-1. The LFH Multifu product is available in 4, 7, 12, 19 and 24 way tube bundles, and each individual microduct can contain 1-4 fibres which are pre-installed during manufacture. Available fibre types – G652D, G657A1 & G657A2

This product is ideal for use within buildings to supply fibre to apartments in MDU’s (multi-dwelling units). The LFH Multifu can be installed in the MDU riser from the basement and taken directly to each apartment, meaning no splicing or blowing is required between the basement and apartment. Each microduct serves one apartment. This means that the designated microduct can be ringcut outside each apartment, and the fibre can be pulled back, and pushed into a dedicated LFH drop duct into each apartment.

LFH Multifu brings all the same benefits to a project as the Emtelle External Multifu, including:

• Reduces CAPEX per home connected on Day 1
• Easy to install, assemble and use the product
• Reduces skill requirements
• Minimises installation time
• Reduces failure rate
• Increases roll out speed
• Lowers upgrade and maintenance costs for the life time of the network

This short video shows how simple a process it is to install our external Multifu solution. The new LFH indoor Multifu is installed in the same process:

For more information on the new CPR regulations announced on 1 July 2017 please click here

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Emtelle partnership with Hauff-Technik – Emtelle UK is proud to announce an exciting new business partnership with German sealing system manufacturer Hauff-Technik.

Hauff-Technik is a leading manufacturer of sealing systems for cables, pipes and building entries, helping to protect buildings from penetrating water, gas, fire, dirt and vermin. Hauff-Technik solutions are globally renowned for being innovate, economic, durable, user friendly and above all providing absolute leak tightness.

The Hauff-Technik product range includes cable seals , pipe sealing, and building entries (including HSI150 System and wall sleeves).

Experience

Hauff-Technik seals and Emtelle PowerProtect+ products are regularly used in partnership to form the perfect solution for sealing where cables enter the building. One such project is the Keadby Wind Farm in North Lincolnshire, where Hauff-Technik press seals were used alongside Emtelle PVC ducts to combat the high water table and subsequent water ingress. For more information on the Keadby Wind Farm project, please see our case study.

On the Emtelle partnership with Hauff-Technik, Emtelle’s Business Development Manager Grieg McIlwraith said:

“This is great news for Emtelle; Hauff-Technik are leaders in their field for sealing solutions and their unique products are the perfect accompaniment to Emtelle Ducting Systems. We have been working closely together for a number of years now and this agreement further strengthens our partnership.”

Greig McIlwraith – Emtelle Business Development Manager (Scotland)

Jan Holly, Hauff-Technik’s Country Manager for UK & Ireland, had this to say about the Emtelle partnership with Hauff-Technik:

“We are very happy to have this agreement in place. Emtelle is an experienced manufacturer of high quality products with outstanding knowledge of customers and their demands. Emtelle and Hauff-Technik are both customer driven and we share the interest in setting standards. Working together gives us the opportunity to offer our customers not only products, but solutions.”

Jan Holly – Hauff-Technik Country Manager (UK & Ireland)

Emtelle now has exclusive rights to supply Hauff Technik products throughout the UK and ROI.

For more information on Hauff Technik, please visit https://www.hauff-technik.de/en/

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Emtelle have designed new CPR-compliant cables to meet the recently announced European CPR regulations. These new high classification cables reduce flame spread and introduce fewer hazardous substances in the event of a fire within a building.

This announcement made by the European Commission on Construction Product Regulations (CPR) controls construction materials installed within European buildings, and introduces new fire safety rules. The regulation states that all cables marketed in the European Economic Area (EEA) must carry a CE mark along with a formal Declaration of Performance (DOP) verifying compliance. These regulations come into force as of 01 July 2017 which mean manufacturers cannot supply cables unless they have been tested, certified and marked in accordance with the CPR requirements.

At Emtelle, we pride ourselves on compliance to worldwide regulations, and are delighted that our design and manufacturing capabilities allow to us to offer such necessary cables within an indoor environment to the FTTX market.

The post Emtelle CPR Compliant Cables appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle announce the launch of new Low Fire Hazard Multifu to the FTTH market.

Emtelle Multifu is an innovative tube bundle solution in which the microduct can be accessed at any point along its length via a window cut, then the required fibre length can be pulled back and pushed to each apartment, meaning no blowing is required.

To meet indoor fire regulations, Emtelle have manufactured MULTIFU out of LFH material, meaning it is suitable for use within buildings, and gives excellent performance in a fire scenario – meeting IEC 60332-1. The LFH Multifu product is available in 4, 7, 12, 19 and 24 way tube bundles, and each individual microduct can contain 1-4 fibres which are pre-installed during manufacture. Available fibre types – G652D, G657A1 & G657A2

This product is ideal for use within buildings to supply fibre to apartments in MDU’s (multi-dwelling units). The LFH Multifu can be installed in the MDU riser from the basement and taken directly to each apartment, meaning no splicing or blowing is required between the basement and apartment. Each microduct serves one apartment. This means that the designated microduct can be ringcut outside each apartment, and the fibre can be pulled back, and pushed into a dedicated LFH drop duct into each apartment.

LFH Multifu brings all the same benefits to a project as the Emtelle External Multifu, including:

• Reduces CAPEX per home connected on Day 1
• Easy to install, assemble and use the product
• Reduces skill requirements
• Minimises installation time
• Reduces failure rate
• Increases roll out speed
• Lowers upgrade and maintenance costs for the life time of the network

This short video shows how simple a process it is to install our external Multifu solution. The new LFH indoor Multifu is installed in the same process, but within the building:

For more information on the new CPR regulations announced on 1 July 2017 please click here

The post LFH Multifu – An Ideal Indoor Solution appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle exports to over 74 countries, and with sales offices around the world, we want to keep updated on market performance, and any upcoming new and existing customer projects, across all regions. We find that attending exhibitions worldwide gives us a great platform to meet our customers and contacts, and allows us to showcase what’s new in Emtelle’s world, all under one roof!

For the remainder of 2017, we have a few exhibitions and events lined up across the world. Here’s a simple overview as to where you can meet us in the coming months.

Australia

FTTH Smart City Workshop, Melbourne
31 August 2017
Melbourne, Australia

For the latest program click here
Council member’s register here
Non-members register here

Europe

ECOC
Meeting Room R24
18-20 September 2017
Gothenburg, Sweden

Liberty Global Tech Summit
20 September 2017
Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam

Fibre Seminar
27 September 2017
Copenhagen, Denmark
Sign up here

USA

ICUEE Demo Expo
Booth 5532
3-5 October 2017
Louisville NY, US

UK

INCA Conference
15-16 November 2017
Newcastle, UK

If you are unable to attend these events, please get in touch and we would be more than happy to arrange a meeting with your regional sales manager.

The post Meet Emtelle at Worldwide Exhibitions appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle are pleased to announce that we have expect to surpassed sales over 1000km of our RTRYVA product range. The RTRYVA product was officially launched at the FTTH conference in Luxembourg in February 2016 and the interest generated from the launch and subsequent press releases has driven significant demand for the product range.

RTRYVA has now developed from a single 15mm duct with 12 or 24 x 2 fibre bundles to a product range that extends upto 25mm in diameter with upto 48 different fibre bundles that have fibre counts of 2,4,6,8 or 12 fibres per bundle.

Emtelle have since developed our EMU box for branching the drop fibres to homes and businesses which has been certified to comply to IP68 rating.

Within the RTRYVA duct, multiple loose fibers are installed during manufacture to give a very flexible FTTX solution where duct access & branching from the RTRYVA is quick and easy and uses the minimal amount of tools, training and installation equipment. Fibers are accessed, excess fiber is pulled back out of the duct, then branched to the home / business through a dedicated drop duct. Fiber installation to inside the home / business is carried out by pushing or pulling.

Emtelle RTRYVA is a High Density Pull back cable specifically designed for FTTX that offers space, product and installation cost savings of >€80 / home or business for Brown Field applications due to the fact that its density of fiber can accommodate 96 drops from a single Ø15mm duct. When planning a new build (Green Field) build, if planned before Civils / digging, then additional savings of €60 / home or business on access chamber costs can be achieved giving total cost savings of €140 / home or business.

Emtelle pride ourselves in innovating and delivering best in class products to our clients and the RTRYVA product range has surpassed our sales expectations since launch. We look forward to further growth in the coming years and look forward to developing an even wider range of products to suit many different global applications for FTTX.

For more information on RTRYVA view our brochure here

Here’s a quick clip to show how easy RTRYVA is to install:

The post Emtelle RTRYVA Surpasses 1000km of Sales appeared first on Emtelle.

Scotland-based Emtelle, a leading global manufacturer of blown fibre and ducted network solutions for the telecommunications industry, has today announced the acquisition of Moore GmbH. The combined business will ensure Emtelle can meet the fast-growing, worldwide demand for blown fibre, driven largely by the huge growth in Internet usage, including the Internet-of-Things.

The acquisition is part of a major €30 million investment by Emtelle in its manufacturing plants across Europe. It will enhance the overall capacity of the group and secure supply to a rapidly expanding client base in continental Europe. It gives Emtelle three central hubs – in the UK, Scandinavia and Germany – allowing rapid access to customers in these countries as well as in France and Benelux. Customers will benefit from the merged expertise and skillsets through improved service and support.

Moore GmbH is a German manufacturer of microducts and HDPE ducts for the telecoms and renewable markets. The company has been manufacturing HDPE conduits for over 15 years, and serves markets throughout Europe. Following the acquisition, Moore will immediately be renamed Emtelle GmbH. The facility will be closed for a short period to introduce new machinery and new technology, and to broaden the product range and capacity to be more in line with the requirements of the German market. Emtelle anticipates that the new investment will allow it to quadruple capacity in Germany by the end of 2018.

Training will be given to approximately 30 existing employees to enable them to operate, enhance and maintain these new extrusion lines, which will manufacture ducts, microducts and sheathed tube bundles. The addition of the former Moore staff will increase the number of Emtelle employees to around 455 globally.

The acquisition will enhance Emtelle’s manufacturing facilities as well as its ability to support customers worldwide, underpinning the company’s existing global market coverage. With two sites in the UK – in Jedburgh and Hawick in Scotland – as well as in Scandinavia and now Germany, Emtelle is well-placed to serve over 50 markets across the world. The acquisition will both strengthen its presence in mainland Europe and underpin its position as the industry leading supplier of blown fibre and ducted networks to the telecoms, power, rail, highway and industrial sectors. Emtelle has already started investing in additional capability and capacity for the facility in Germany.

Mads Høgfeldt, Group CEO, Emtelle, said, “There is a natural synergy between our skillsets and product lines and this deal will improve our bottom line significantly and benefit our clients at the same time. The addition of manufacturing capability in the centre of the largest country in western Europe is a complementary expansion of our core Scandinavian and UK manufacturing capabilities. This acquisition will ensure better and more local customer service to our rapidly developing customer base. As a combined group, we will be able to supply the increasing global demands for fibre by adding a full manufacturing facility to our current sales team in Germany, substantially increasing our presence in a market which offers the largest FTTP potential in Europe.”

He added, “The addition of skilled staff from Moore GmbH means we will be able to support our many customers throughout Europe even more efficiently. Emtelle will bring to the deal world class manufacturing methods and processes, and its technology will further enhance the efforts and dedication of the local and loyal workforce.”

“The fibre market, including FTTX and FTTH, is vitally important to current and future businesses and households worldwide, and with over 35 years’ experience we are extremely well-positioned to offer the best possible solutions. The acquisition reflects our ambitions to grow and increase the range and flexibility of our offering and to drive improvements to our already excellent customer service day by day.”

For more details on Moore GmbH, see http://moore-gmbh.com/en/

For further information, please speak to Josh Turner, on 07802 252291 or josh@thebrighthub.co.uk.

The post Emtelle Acquires Moore GmbH to Consolidate Global Leadership appeared first on Emtelle.

Emtelle is proud to announce the appointment of Peter Schulte, the new Sales Director for Scandinavia Baltics effective 1 September 2017.

To further increase Emtelle presence and sales in the Scandinavian market, Emtelle appoint Peter Schulte as Sales Director for Scandinavia Baltics, focusing on Sweden, Finland and the Baltics. Peter shall lead the sales in this region with the assistance of the current Swedish Sales team.

Peter comes to us from Nexans Cable where he has worked as Head of Sales D&I, Operators and Utilities. With a wealth of knowledge within the FTTx industry, Peter has 20 years’ experience in telecoms and renewable energies, working for the likes of Ahlsell and Elektroskandia during his career. Peter has vast experience in liaising with contractors, utility companies and service providers throughout his accomplished career, in particular throughout his most recent role and as country sales manager with Ahlsell, a role held for 10 years.

We trust the knowledge & experience Peter brings to Emtelle will ensure his new role as Scandinavia Baltics Sales Director will be a success, and all at Emtelle look forward to supporting Peter in his new role both technically and commercially.

The post Introducing our New Sales Director for Scandinavia Baltics appeared first on Emtelle.