May 3, 2010:
OCC Introduces Lightweight Deployable Reel System Ideal for Harsh Environments
Termination Economies
The Bottom Line Advantage: Termination Cost Savings of Tight-Buffered and Breakout-Style Cables vs. Loose-Tube Gel-Filled Cables
Termination of fiber optic cables can be a major installation expense. By enabling direct field termination of B-Series and BX-Series Breakout or D-Series and DX-Series Distribution Cables, Optical Cable Corporation offers a major economic advantage to installers and users.
When you specify Optical Cable Corporation's tight-buffered B-Series and BX-Series Breakout or D-Series and DX-Series Distribution Cables, you may anticipate a cost savings approaching 66% of the estimated per-fiber cost of a typical furcation and field termination of a loose-tube gel-filled cable. Labor costs for loose-tube gel-filled cable are typically three times that of field termination for Optical Cable Corporation's tight-buffered indoor/outdoor cable. Other termination methods can result in costs four times higher than the direct termination of Optical Cable Corporation's tight-buffered indoor/outdoor fiber optic cables.
These estimates are based on installation of a 72-fiber cable. For lower fiber counts, field termination costs per fiber of Breakout and Distribution Cable will remain the same, while per-fiber cost for loose-tube gel-filled cable will rise as hardware, cleaning, and preparation time costs are amortized over fewer fibers.
These savings are especially impressive when viewed in relation to cable link length. In a cable run of 400 fiber meters per connector (a link length of 800 meters), the savings will be approximately $.08 to $.13 per fiber meter. While this savings will decrease as link length increases, the economies remain impressive across the range of typical installations.
The simplicity of Optical Cable Corporation's field termination technique makes these savings possible. Terminating a tight-buffered cable requires only cable-stripping and connector installation tools and a few minutes of labor. When loose-tube gel-filled cable is used, installation expense must be elevated to include cleaning solvents, rags, fan-out tubes, splicers, splice housings, splice trays, splice closures, and the labor cost of extensive cleaning and preparation time.
Optical Cable Corporation's field termination technique offers several additional advantages:
- All buffer and coating layers are removed simultaneously with a simple mechanical stripper
- Since no gel filling is present, cleaning of the fibers is not necessary during termination
- Termination rework is drastically reduced
- Installation flexibility is improved, since it is not necessary to terminate all fibers at the same time
- Emergency restoration time, usually under the most adverse conditions, is dramatically reduced
