Revolutionising the NBN rollout

Prysmian Group says the company’s new line of optical cables will halve the cost of joining cables, revolutionising the NBN rollout.

The Italian-designed Prysmian FlexTube line will be produced in Australia for the first time at the company’s telecommunications facility at Dee Why on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The facility  has the capacity to produce more than 600,000 fibre kilometres of the cabling each year — almost a third of the entire standard optical fibre market in Australia.

Prysmian CEO Australia & New Zealand Frederick Persson said the innovative cabling would transform the face of Australia’s telecommunication networks.

“We expect FlexTube to become the stranded optical cable of choice in the Australian telecom industry within the next three years, with the Dee Why factory’s capacity on track to exceed one million fibre kilometres by early 2019,” Persson said.

“The introduction of the FlexTube is another first for Prysmian, as we brought ribbon fibre manufacturing to Australia in 2012, as the major supplier of fibre-optic cables for the NBN.”

The FlexTube cable is not intended as a direct replacement for ribbon fibre cables but its features will give network builders an innovative alternative, as it enables more fibres and closures to fit in the ever-diminishing and increasingly costly remaining space in today’s underground duct networks.

“The FlexTube line will provide more options for network providers, as it significantly lowers the cost of building and owning networks,” Persson added.

“With the cabling manufactured right out of Sydney, local network builders will have a dedicated in-region plant, and the ability to quickly meet the demand of providers.”