2012 Sustainability Report
58
| prysmian group | 2012 Sustainability Report
environmental commitment;
• investment in cables and systems for renewable
energy;
• participation of and continuous communications
with employees and stakeholders, for an improved
understanding of all the environmental, safety and
social issues that affect the manufacturers of cables
and their markets.
Principal projects - Telecom sector
The Prysmian Group strengthened its position in the optical
fibres and optical cables sector during 2012 by launching
BendBrightXS, bend-resistant fibres, and working with
several customers on the development of solutions for the
Fibre To The Home (FTTH) and for mobile networks (4G and
LTE networks).
These innovative solutions have a common denominator,
in that they improve the total cost of ownership of
various networks by reducing the related installation and
maintenance costs. These solutions generally involve
running compact cables through network conduits already
used by Telecom operators, and easier and more economic
technical installations. Further opportunities include
combining data and electricity transmission in the same
cable.
A further consequence of such new designs is that these
innovative solutions have a lower environmental impact
than in the past.
For example, the LT 2.0 BB-XS family of cables has been
launched in the US market as the next generation, large-
scale product. The combination of exclusive technologies
available to the Prysmian Group allows optical fibres to be
protected by small tubes, resulting in reduced diameter
(-19%) and lighter (-40%) cables, in full compliance with
all sector standards and marked by a lower environmental
impact.
Numerous new designs of "mini cables" have been
developed for specific markets, including Germany, Italy
and the United Kingdom. The continuous improvement of
this type of cable involves reductions in size and weight,
the use of halogen-free materials for internal and external
applications, the selection of eco-sustainable materials
for use in production, a reduction in the civil works needed
to expand networks and lower cable transportation
requirements.
Further progress has been made in the field of mobile
networks, where the Prysmian Group is developing a series
of hybrid cables (energy and communications) for the US
market that address the increasing use of Fibre To The
Antenna. All these solutions incorporate BendBrightXS
fibre. The development of this type of cable is helping to
reduce considerably the environmental impact compared
with traditional installations of antenna cables. A special
effort has also been made regarding the connectivity
accessories needed for these solutions.
In the Datacom environment, "MaxCapBB" is an innovative
multi-mode fibre, resistant to bending, that is now
replacing the standard multi-mode fibres found in local
area networks and datacentre applications. A new family,
OM4+, has been introduced that compensates for chromatic
dispersion and allows connections of 50% longer link
length at up to 10Gbits/s. This new type of fibre is now
incorporated in the product portfolio of the M&S unit and
Prysmian has confirmed its leadership in Category cables
with the launch of the "Cat 6a UTP", a cable that is ideal
for business network applications. Key innovations include
the reduced size of the cable and its increased mechanical
flexibility, not to mention the reduction in energy consumed
by firms and datacentres that use these cables in their
networks.
Among various partnerships with businesses and
universities, Prysmian is also working on development of
the next generation of Home network.
Further studies have looked at families of optical fibres and
optical cables for special applications, such as exposure
to high temperatures and other extreme environmental
conditions. These special fibres are used in the Oil &
Gas and Nuclear sectors, principally for detection and
sensing techniques, in order to use resources better and
more rationally, and improve the safety and reliability of
operations.
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