RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Sumitomo Electric Lightwave, a leading manufacturer of fiber optic cable, fiber management, fusion, air-blown fiber®, and interconnect products and founding member of the FTTH Council announced today the launch of the industry's first single-mode fiber pigtails and patch cords designed specifically to address the specific interconnection needs of the access and enterprise networks for fiber-to-the-home, fiber-to-the-desk and general FTTX applications. The new pigtails and patch cords incorporate bend-insensitive single-mode fibers developed and introduced by Sumitomo earlier this year. The interconnect products, therefore, feature increased flexibility required to meet the industry's need for component miniaturization and tight-access wiring for deployments allowing tighter routing and higher fiber density in central offices, subscriber equipment, electronic packages at the consumer's residence, and premise wiring including fiber-to-the-desk. For the private network, the pigtails' and patch cords' super low minimum bend radius and high bending reliability resolve complicated premise wiring issues by enabling easy installation within small cabinets, outlets, and termination, switch, or joint boxes. Optical fiber cord can now be installed easily along a wall, and excess cable lengths can now be handled and stored similar to UTP copper cables.

Available with either Sumitomo's PureAccess and PureAccess-Ultra bend-insensitive fibers, the pigtails and patch cords boast bend radiuses of 15mm (0.6 in.) and 7.5mm (0.3 in.) respectively, which is a 50% reduction in bend diameter from standard single-mode fiber for the PureAccess products and a 75% reduction for the PureAccess-Ultra. While reducing bend-radius, both the PureAccess and PureAccess-Ultra pigtails and patch cords preserve fiber integrity. Standard single-mode fiber exhibits attenuation when wrapped around a 60 mm diameter mandrel. When compared to this industry standard, tests show that PureAccess-Ultra pigtails and patch cords exhibit no attenuation loss when wrapped around a 15mm or larger diameter mandrel. PureAccess products exhibit no attenuation loss when wrapped around a 30mm diameter mandrel.

“Our focus is upon giving our customers a competitive advantage in the development of the access and enterprise networks by providing the most reliable FTTX and last-mile solutions available," comments Bill Beasley, Sumitomo’s director of communication networks. “ By adding PureAccess and PureAccess-Ultra pigtails and patch cords to our already broad FTTX innovations, our customers have a line of quality solutions enabling them toachieve their goals for network development.” The new PureAccess andPureAccess-Ultra pigtails and patch cords are available with various connector types including SC, FC, ST, MU, and LC and meet GR-326-Core reliability standards.

Sumitomo Electric Lightwave