Vocus deploys 1728-count fibre cable in Sydney

When Vocus needed the largest fibre count cable possible for a data centre installation, the company called on its cable supplier, Prysmian, to explore potential options.

The nature of the installation meant that Vocus needed to install the largest number of fibres that it could fit into the available duct space as it was a ‘one-shot’ install. Vocus has been installing Prysmian’s Flextube cable in Australia for some years. “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,” said Alex West, chief operating officer at Vocus.

The flextube range of cables has historically had a maximum fibre count up to 720 fibres. The range offers small and flexible cables but the maximum fibre count of 720F was not enough so Prysmian offered its newly developed 1728 fibre cable for deployment. The newly developed cable is only 23 mm in overall diameter, approximately the same size as Prysmian’s current 624F standard loose tube cable. It is the largest Flextube cable available and is claimed to have the highest fibre density of any high fibre count cable deployed in the world (4.16 f/mm²).

“One of the main benefits of this cable is the reduced cost per fibre pair. It costs roughly the same to install a 1728 fibre Flextube cable as it does to install a traditional 624 fibre loose tube cable. Using the large fibre count 1728 fibre cable more than halves the cost per installed fibre. This is a great advantage in what is a very competitive market,” West said.

Installing such a large number of fibres on day one also reduces future truck rolls and increases potential customer connection speed. “Being able to offer the world’s highest fibre density cable to our core customers offers them even greater design flexibility and cost-saving potential. We are a global cable supplier and Australia was the first country globally to embrace this new design and capture its benefits,” said Alice Codenotti, Prysmian’s telecom specialist who worked with Vocus on this project.