ACT is your Southeast Fiber Specialist. Fiber Optic cabling provides a far greater bandwidth than copper and is typically used for backbone connection between
localized networking equipment and is increasingly becoming the preferred
choice for high quality and reliable analog and digital communications.
Although its higher cost can be prohibitive for desktop applications, fiber
optic cabling provides a high security link, with immunity from
electromagnetic interference (EMI). It is also the solution for
inter-building links and other connections beyond the maximum 90m for
Category 5e copper cabling.
Fiber Optic Cable Design & Installation
ACT carries out the design, installation, testing & maintenance of Fiber
Optic systems including Fusion Splicing & Termination of multimode & single
mode fiber cables, including repair work.
All types of fiber optic cabling systems are offered including:
- Multimode 62.5/125 (OM1) Datacomms
- Multimode 50/125 (OM2) Video & Datacomms Systems
- Multimode 50/125 (OM3) Gigabit Ethernet an 10 Gig Ethernet for up to 300m
- Singlemode 8/125 (OS1) Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gig Ethernet for up to 2km.
- All cables are internal/external grade.
Fiber Optic Termination & Testing
Our Fiber Optic termination and testing service is offered to corporate end users as well as other communication providers who prefer to use our skilled services rather than invest in expensive test equipment and costly engineer training. Both methods of termination are offered either direct termination or fusion splicing of pre-manufactured pigtail assemblies.
Fiber Optic Advantages
Increased Bandwidth
A fiber optic system may have very high bandwidth, sometimes operating at
data rates of 10Gb/s, equivalent to more than 120,000 standard telephone
calls over one pair of optical fibers (one transmitting and one receiving).
Under Lab conditions, data rates as high as 10 terabits per second have been
demonstrated (150 million telephone calls).
Datacomms type fibers have a lower information carrying capacity but are
capable of 1Gb/s with some 10 Gigabit systems now in use.
Increased Distances
Due to the low attenuation (or signal loss) exhibited by optical fibers,
signals can be transmitted very long distances. In subsea
telecommunications, distances of up to 280km have been used without the
requirement for repeaters or boosters. Repeatered systems can span as much
as 10,000 to 15,000km, where optical amplifiers are used to boost the signal
levels typically around every 80km or so.
Datacomms optical fibers have higher losses but can easily cope with the
longest cable runs likely to be encountered in LANS.
Lightweight and Compact
An optical fiber is extremely light, a 2km bobbin would only weigh approx. 1lB, therefore it is ideal for use in applications where weight is critical. Equally, a coated optical fiber is only 250 microns (a quarter of a millimeter) in diameter; a 12 core (12 fiber) cable may be less than 8mm in diameter for indoor use.
Fiber Optic Cabling Is Secure
Operational fibers do not radiate any signal, the optical signal is
completely contained in the middle of the fiber. This means that fibers are
frequently used for applications where data security is important such as
military and government communications. Even if attempts are made to ‘tap
into’ a fiber optic cable by isolating a bare fiber and putting a tight bend
onto it so that some of the signal escapes, this intrusion can be detected
by monitoring the power of the transmitted signal, and located using an OTDR
technique (Optical Time Domain Reflectometry).
Fiber Optic Cabling Is Safe
A fiber optic communications cable does not need to carry any electrical
current. It is possible to construct completely non-metallic cables so that
full electrical isolation can be achieved, particularly important in the
Electric supply industry. There are no risks of short circuits generating
sparks which may ignite explosive gases etc.
Non-metallic cables are not prone to lightning strikes in exposed areas.
All these intrinsically safe characteristics have led to the widespread use
of fiber optics in hazardous environments such as oil refineries, chemical
works, coal mines, etc.
Fiber Optic Cabling Is Environmentally Friendly
When compared to copper communications cables, there is little use of resource in manufacturing, transporting and installing fiber optic cables because of the lightweight, compact nature of optical fibers.
Fiber Optic Cable Has No Scrap Value
Fiber optic cable is worthless as scrap and therefore not worth stealing
unlike copper telecoms cable.
Fiber Optic Cabling Is Future-proof
Any fiber optic system currently installed will only be using a very small
fraction of the potential information carrying capacity of the fiber.
Therefore, as demand for communications capacity increases the system can be
upgraded by attaching more sophisticated transmission equipment.
Fiber Optics Are Cost Effective
Many people view fiber optics as being very expensive, but for any
application where there is a lot of data to move over long distances then
fiber is likely to provide the cheapest solution.
There is a general downward trend in prices of fiber optics cabling,
components, tools and installation equipment. However, the transmission
equipment which converts electricity into light and back again is still
relatively expensive. As prices continue to fall, and the price of copper
continues to rise, fiber optics will become the most cost-effective solution
for more and more applications – bringing all the other benefits as well.