An ultra lightweight (ULW) fibre cable used to swiftly and cost-effectively roll out improved connectivity services across rural parts of the UK has won the Technical Innovation Award at the INCA Summit.
Judges of the INCA Awards agreed that ACOME Group’s Nanomodule ULW cable, designed to address the specific pain points of British operators, stood head and shoulders above the rest as the innovation that had proved most crucial in the last year in supporting the delivery of ground-breaking work in the Altnet sector.
Network builder FullFibre used the 72-fibre version of the Nanomodule cable (which is also available from 36 to 96 fibres) to swiftly and cost-effectively roll out XGS-PON services to rural communities in Hertfordshire that in the past only had copper, improving the connectivity and services available to them. The cable's design facilitates single-cable usage between poles and, without the need for a joint into underground ducts, addresses capacity challenges in rural areas. It helped FullFibre to establish a 26km-long fibre network spine in the county.
“We’re delighted that the innovation and expertise that went into creating the cable, and the successful collaboration with our customer FullFibre, has been recognised by such a prestigious awards programme and esteemed judging panel”, said Andrea Garcia, Sales Director at ACOME Group. “We’ve designed our solutions to meet the requirements and needs of the UK’s fibre market and we look forward to continuing our mission to help shape Britain’s digital future with the country’s operators and ISPs”.
A key benefit offered by the cable is the avoidance of many thousands of passthrough splices in joint closures, reinforcing the quality of the connection for every premises and extending the reach of each optical connection node.
The ability to fit so many fibres into the cable means that network builders can deploy more fibre in the same diameter of cable. It also removes the restraints of aerial cables’ 7mm size, which typically limits them to a maximum of 48 fibres – whilst remaining Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) compliant. FullFibre can use existing Openreach PIA poles to deploy the cable rather than erect new ones and cause disruption, eye sores or other issues for local residents.
The surplus fibres from ACOME Group’s cables have also allowed FullFibre to offer leased lines to rural businesses, dark fibre (the company has been looking at water leakage monitoring with Severn Trent water), and the capacity to offer 5G services to customers.
“The density and 12-module structure of the cable allowed us to use existing network infrastructure. Without which, we would have had to dig extensively, and the cost and disruption would have been huge,” said Technical Delivery Director at FullFibre Dan Jones when the partnership with ACOME was originally announced.
Beyond the immediate financial and time-saving advantages, this nanomodule design significantly reduces the carbon footprint of fibre deployments by 24% and can be utilised in both rural and urban settings. The cable is also available in 5mm 12 and 24 fibre sizes and sizes from 36 to 96f in 7mm.