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Prysmian Group to supply fibre cable for Mexican rural fibre project

Government-owned company Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) has selected Prysmian Group for the project ‘Proyecto de Conectividad Fibra Óptica Red Eléctrica Inteligente REI’ in Mexico. The project will connect remote regions in the country with high-speed broadband. In terms of cable supply, this is the largest project ever launched by the Mexican government.

In recent years, there has been considerable fibre rollout activity in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, the country’s three largest cities, where (synchronous and asynchronous) 100 Mbit/s connections are available. To also ensure the availability of broadband services in rural areas, Mexico’s government is creating a national Internet company: CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos (CFE Telecommunications and Internet for all). President Andrés Manuel López Obrador aims to expand Internet reach from 87% today to 95% in 2024, when his term ends.

After winning a contract worth some $38 million, Prysmian will be taking care of the design and supply of a minimum of 9,800 fkm of OPGW (optical ground wire) cables and 5,100 fkm of ADSS (All-dielectric self-supporting) cables. Prysmian won the contract through the company’s ability to leverage on its global organisation, and great teamwork between its LATAM, HQ and OPGW Business Unit organisations.

“We wouldn’t have been able to succeed in this project without the extremely efficient cooperation among our local sales team and global operations, R&D, procurement, logistics and legal teams,” states Juan Mogollon, CEO LATAM at Prysmian Group. “Support from all of them was key to reaching this outstanding result.”

Juan Mogollon

CEO LATAM at Prysmian Group

“OPGW cable is installed on top of the overhead transmission lines with a dual purpose: it protects power lines against discharges and transmits data over long distances,” explains Juan Olivares, Business Development & Marketing Director México, Prysmian Group. “Since the CFE project involves renovating and creating new transmission lines, OPGW is the right product. ADSS is used in projects where an already existing transmission line needs to be energized. In these conditions, installing OPGW is not viable due to the risk that this implies, as well as the impossibility of cutting off the power, so ADSS is ideal since it is installed underneath the power cables, avoiding any risk of electric shock.”

“The main challenge in this project was the logistics and management of a large number of reels, coordinating with the 50 sites to which material has to be delivered. Through teamwork, we have managed to overcome adversities and logistical challenges.”

With many years of experience, Prysmian’s R&D team helped develop and standardize the products, meeting the specific requirements of CFE, for example, the antitracking feature makes it possible to avoid electromagnetic interference on data signals coming from power lines. Coordination with the logistics team was essential to ensuring deliveries were carried out on time, as was support from the finance area to ensure exchange rates that allowed Prysmian to be competitive.

 

“One particular strength we have developed is the coordination and closeness with the financial area that allows us to protect projects with uncertainty in exchange rate parity or variation in metal prices, as well as the optimization of logistics costs to be more efficient.” said Jorge Aranda, Telecom Business Development & Sales Director for Mexico.

 

90% of the 2020 contract for ADSS cables manufactured in the plant located in Durango, Mexico has been fulfilled, as well as 50% of the supply of OPGW cables manufactured in Vilanova i la Geltrù, Spain, scheduled for completion in the coming months. Supply planning for 2021 is currently under preparation.

“Mexico and Central America offer considerable scope for development in all telecom sectors in the near future, with broadband Internet subscribers constantly growing.” adds Philippe Vanhille, Executive Vice President Telecom Business. “The investments we made in this area in the past few years have been key to helping Prysmian be ready to meet the subsequent increase in market demand and support its customers in the region.”

Philippe Vanhille

Executive Vice President Telecom Business