EuroWire January 2016

News Corporate

High fibre Prysmian Group has manufactured and supplied a record-breaking 1,728-fibre cable for a Vocus data centre in Sydney, Australia. The fibre density is believed to be a record for a single cable. Vocus, which serves customers in Australia and New Zealand, faced the challenge of combining as many fibres as possible into a single conduit during a “one shot” installation for a data centre customer. The high fibre count was made possible by using a combination of Prysmian’s Flextube fibre cable technology with its new BendBrightXS 200-µm fibre. The new fibre enabled Prysmian to increase the Flextube cable’s fibre count from a previous high of 720 to the 1,728 used in this application. The cable measures 23mm in diameter. “This is a first for the telecommunications industry, globally,” said Alex West, COO at Vocus. “As part of our commitment to building the fibre network of the new millennium, we’ve been trialling this Flextube fibre cable in smaller formats for three years, and to see a world-first being installed now is very exciting. “One of the main benefits of this cable is the reduced cost per fibre pair,”Mr West continued. “It costs roughly the same to install a 1,728-fibre Flextube cable as it does to install a traditional 624-fibre loose-tube cable. Using the large-fibre-count 1,728-fibre cable more than halves the cost per installed fibre. This is a great advantage in what is a very competitive market.”

Spanish acquisitions for MFL Group Italy’s MFL Group (Mario Frigerio/Frigeco) has confirmed its acquisition of Construcciones Mecánicas Caballé SA (Caballé), the Spanish cable machinery manufacturer, and its other operations. According to the press release the transaction, “will significantly strengthen MFL Group’s scope of supply for non-ferrous wire drawing, stranding and extrusion equipment”. The acquisition includes Caballé, OM Lesmo and Eurodraw Energy brands, together with their corresponding intellectual property. “These well established brands, along with MFL Group’s financial muscle, our 120 years of industry experience, and the broadest engineering and manufacturing knowledge base in the sector, further reinforce our commitment to our non-ferrous wire and cable customers,” the release said. “By exploiting the combined history of Caballé, OM Lesmo, Eurodraw Energy and Frigeco, we can guarantee continuous technical improvement and unmatched customer service. We are looking forward to strengthen our business relationship with our customers and suppliers around the world.”

Prysmian Group – Italy Website : www.prysmiangroup.com

Mario Frigerio SpA – Italy Website : www.mflgroup.com

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January 2016