luster
join:2009-03-28
Berlin, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to PGHammer
Re: Last-Mile Fiber Suppliers: Who?
I can't help but believe that you have some terminologies confused. 'Last-Mile' is a term used, loosely, in the industry for referencing the 'last mile to a few miles' of cabling needed to supply service to a customer. The term originated when engineers were considering what types of cable to use when leaving a remote terminal site. They had to consider expense, signal loss and ease of placement. Within VZ today, the 'last-mile' cable happens to be fiber. And, the drop, the wire/fiber coming to your house from VZ's terminal, is also fiber, in their implementation of FTTP (fiber to the prem).
The overly large reels that you see are probably just plain old fiber cable or inter-duct, nothing special. Besides Corning, Sumitomo Electric & Premier Cables still manufacture fiber cable (there may be more, too). Alcatel-Lucent, Pirelli, the former AT&T and Siecor (a partnership between Siemons & Corning) used to mfgr FO cables and many miles of their cable still exist around the world. Corning manufactures nearly 100% of the actual fiber strands and the manufacturers merely assemble the FO cable to whatever specs are desired.
Take a peek here '»www.premiercables.net/index.aspx' Google for pics of FO cables. |
PGHammer
join:2003-06-09
Accokeek, MD
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| I'm referring specifically to drop-fiber. At the street level, it's pretty much O-C here in VZ land (regardless of whether the runs are aboveground or buried). VZ buys fiber in bulk, and O-C has been in the fiber business longer than most (if not all) of the US competition (yes; this is the very same O-C that is better known for building insulation than fiber-optics). Sumitomo supplies fiber mostly in Asia, and Pirelli in Europe (amusingly, both companies are better-known in the United States for automotive products; specifically tires). |
