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PRYSMIAN GROUP | DIRECTORS’ REPORT
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wide range of optical fibres, designed and manufactured to cater to the broadest possible spectrum of
customer applications, such as single-mode, multimode and specialty fibres.
Optical cables
Optical fibres are employed in the production of standard optical cables or those specially designed for
challenging or inaccessible environments. The optical cables, constructed using just a single fibre or up to as
many as 1,728 fibres, can be pulled (or blown) into ducts, buried directly underground or suspended on
overhead devices such as telegraph poles or electricity pylons. Cables are also installed in road and rail
tunnels, gas and sewerage networks and inside various buildings where they must satisfy specific fire-
resistant requirements. Prysmian Group operates in the telecommunications market with a wide range of
cable solutions and systems that respond to the demand for wider bandwidth by major network operators
and service providers. The product portfolio covers every area of the industry, including long-distance and
urban systems, and solutions such as optical ground wire (OPGW), Rapier (easy break-out), Siroccoxs
(fibres and cables for blown installation), Flextube® (extremely flexible easy-to-handle cables for indoor or
outdoor installations), Airbag (dielectric direct buried cable) and many more.
Connectivity
Whether deployed in outdoor or indoor applications, Prysmian Group's OAsys connectivity solutions are
designed for versatility, covering all cable management needs whatever the network type. These include
aerial and underground installations, as well as cabling in central offices (or exchanges) or customer
premises. Prysmian Group has been designing, developing and making cable and fibre management
products for more than two decades and is at the forefront of designing next-generation products specifically
for Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) networks.
FTTx
Increasing bandwidth requirements, by both business and residential customers, are having a profound
effect upon the optical network performance level required, which in turn demands high standards of fibre
management. Optimal fibre management in every section of the network is increasingly a matter of priority in
order to minimise power loss and overcome the problems caused by ever greater space limitations. The
Group has developed the suite of xsNet products for "last mile" access networks, which is also very suited to
optical fibre deployment in sparsely populated rural areas. Most of the cables used in FTTx/FTTH systems
feature Prysmian's bend-insensitive BendBrightxs optical fibre, which has been specially developed for this
application.
FTTA (Fibre-To-The-Antenna)
xsMobile, which offers Fibre-To-The-Antenna (FTTA) solutions, is an extensive passive portfolio which
enables mobile operators to upgrade their networks easily and quickly. Incorporating Prysmian's experience
in Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) and its unique fibre innovations, xsMobile provides different product solutions
for three applications: antenna towers, roof-top antennas and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) for small