Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (FEC) says it has successfully deployed a 6,912-fiber-count cable into 1.25-inch conduit at a North American data center campus. The deployment features a maximum length of 1,411 feet (430 m).
FEC notes that the high fill ratio is not normally recommended for outside plant deployments. However, the company says the owner of the campus network was willing to assume the risks associated with such a deployment in hopes of benefiting from the high fiber count. FEC says the deployment leveraged what it called “appropriate tools, work procedures, and optimum installation conditions.”
“The FEC 6912 fiber-optic cable at least doubled the fiber count possible in a 1.25-inch conduit, compared to competing available designs,” said Ichiro Kobayashi, general manager of optical fiber and cable engineering department, FEC.
The deployment followed an experiment FEC conducted in its Mie, Japan, facility in which the company installed a 6,912-fiber cable with an outer diameter of 1.14 inches (29 mm) in a 696-foot (200 m) long conduit with three 90 degree curves and an inner diameter of 32 mm. FEC reports that its engineers confirmed a maximum pulling tension of 84 pounds (372N), which the company says it well below the maximum pulling tension of 600 pounds (2700N) specified for the cable.
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