Alker to Show Off at ECOC

NOTTINGHAM, U.K. -- Alker Optical Equipment – the UK-based fibre optic termination specialist – debuts at ECOC next month with the setting of a new standard in optical fibre termination. The company is also expanding the range of connectors to which it can apply its high quality termination processes, with new products on show for the first time.

Celebrating 20 years of business in the optical fibre industry and a respected reputation for high quality and responsiveness, Alker comes to ECOC to raise market awareness of the world-class quality, reliability and service it provides for its customers.

“After two decades in the business, Alker has achieved this 99.999% reliability level by performing a 100% check on every item: we do not batch test and do all our own work in house,” explained Richard Kershaw, Director at Alker. “In over 86,000 terminations – produced for one customer in an 18 month period – we have had only 11 rejections and four of those showed signs of external damage.”

Alker, established in Nottingham in 1985 by fibre optics pioneer Alan Kershaw, has always focused on quality processes and fast turnaround time, changing its business processes to match the development of the industry.

“The need to lower costs has driven production offshore to China and the Far East. Unfortunately, this has resulted in many low quality and sub-standard products from both abroad and the UK as some home producers try to compete with China’s pricing,” said Richard.

“In contrast, Alker has built its business on quality and service. We use only the finest components from the world’s best suppliers. Our termination processes go through up to 15 stages and checks before despatch, up to three times more than most of our competitors.”

To enable a fast response, Alker carries large and varied stocks of fibre and components and can process optical terminations within 7-10 days – significantly faster than the industry norm of three-four weeks. The company also offers an emergency service with a 24 hour turnaround time.

“Ever since the early days we have endeavoured to establish an acceptance that the ‘Alker standard’ is the standard others should strive for,” added Richard. “At ECOC people will have the chance – for the first time – to see for themselves what we are talking about.”