WCA May 2010

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2010 10
At the FTTH Conference 2010 in
February, the FTTH Council Europe
unveiled the latest figures showing
which European countries are leading
the way in the penetration of fibre-to-
the-home at year-end 2009.
Although Sweden, Norway and
Slovenia maintained their places in
the top five, they were overtaken by
Lithuania, which made a dynamic
jump to the number one position with
18 per cent FTTH penetration. All four
countries now have penetration rates
greater than 10 per cent.
France and Portugal broke into the
ranking for the first time, helped by
strong deployment of fibre infra-
structure as well as marketing efforts
to engage subscribers.
FTTH uptake in both countries is
expected to continue to increase
rapidly as both countries also rank in
the top ten economies in terms of the
availability of FTTH.
In absolute figures Europe has reached
2.5 million subscribers – 3.5 million if
Russia is also included.
The majority of subscribers (77 per
cent) are concentrated in seven coun-
tries, in the following order: Sweden,
Italy, France, Lithuania, Norway, The
Netherlands and Denmark.
Amongst these seven, five countries
now have more than 200,000 connected
subscribers.
FTTH Council Europe –
Belgium
Fax: +32 2503 2277
Email:
Website :
FTTH take up gathers pace
Prysmian Cables & Systems has reached a major milestone in its optical ground
wire (OPGW) business with the latest delivery of a system which takes its total
installed worldwide cable volume past the 150,000km mark.
OPGW cable forms an integral part of an overhead electricity network,
performing both the primary function of a conventional earth conductor together
with the provision of a state-of-the-art communications link, due to the optical
fibres contained within.
The project is being carried out with one of the main power utilities in Eastern
Europe, with the cable manufactured at Prysmian’s main facility at Vilanova,
near Barcelona together with the production unit in Soracaba, Brazil. Prysmian
also produced the optical fibres within the cable at the company’s facility in
Battipaglia, Italy.
Since supply of OPGW began in 1984, Prysmian’s aluminium tube technology
design has been installed into a wide range of environments in all five
continents.
“This is an important achievement for us and confirms the commitment shown
by our customers in our OPGW system over the last quarter of a century,” said
Mr Raul Gil, head of Prysmian’s global OPGW business. “We have now installed
our system in more than 80 countries around the world and we are delighted to
reach this significant point in the product’s history.”
Prysmian Cables & Systems – Italy Website:
150,000km installed base
for OPGW
The Institute of Spring Technology
(IST) has launched a new version of
its website. Designed to be more
attractive than its predecessor, and
with clearer navigation, the new site
provides full details of the services,
equipment, testing and technical
expertise available at IST.
The new site has been developed
in-house and incorporates extra
information, improved graphics, mov-
ing pictures and significantly more
downloadable content. Additions to
the site include:
Expanded details of IST’s range •
of spring testing equipment
“Meet the staff” page •
History of IST •
Information on British and •
European funded IST research
IST members will also have access to
a “Members Only” area.
Institute of Spring Technology – UK
Fax: +44 114 252 7997
Email:
Website :
New website for IST
Supplier of wiredrawing machines for
the steel wire industry, Ernst Koch
GmbH & Co KG now holds a 49%
share in Italian manufacturer, Welding
Wire Machineries Srl (WWM).
WWM supplies producers of welding
wires around the world and, in the
past, Koch has implemented many
joint projects with the company. Koch
expects its shareholding in WWM to
result in even better cooperation in
terms of the development of new
welding wire machines and equip-
ment, as well as in obtaining greater
expertise in the production of welding
electrodes and flux-cored welding
wire.
According to executive director
Jochen Koch, WWM could also
partner with his long-established
company when it comes to equipment
that complements the drawing
machines.
“Working with WWM allows us to
enter the Italian market directly. This
will facilitate both the distribution of
our own machines and the com-
mercialisation of our joint projects
while we will also benefit from
the possibility to purchase additional
components and equipment,” ex-
plained executive director Thomas
Voss.
Ernst Koch GmbH & Co KG –
Germany
Fax: +49 2372 985 167
Email:
Website:
New
shareholder in
Italian WWM