Prysmian at the Heart of the Matter

Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010

Prysmian Telecom Cables and Systems announces the first deployment of its Sirocco^®, blown optical fibre system, in Italy. The installation has been carried out at the ELETTRA research facility in Basovizza near Trieste, in the north-east of the country. ELETTRA is an advanced synchrotron light laboratory, run by Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A. It specializes in fundamental studies of sub-atomic matter using its third generation synchrotron particle accelerator. The fourth generation light source "Fermi@Elettra" is currently under commissioning and will allow advanced research to be undertaken in several fields of matter structure.

The optical fibre network is part of the FERMI timing system developed at ELETTRA. The fibre performs a vital role allowing the various component parts of the system to operate synchronously with one another to enable ultra fast experiments, such as chemical reactions and transition of matter into different states, which truly happen at the 'speed of light'.

The Sirocco^® system consists of small units or bundles of optical fibres which are deployed into a network of pre-installed tubes by means of compressed air. Fibres installed in this fashion remain free of any mechanical stress ensuring a long term integrity of the fibre links in this unique environment. Furthermore the Sirocco^® system allows additional fibres to be installed on demand into the tube network without long interruptions to the on-going scientific work of the facility. To date a total of 10 km of Sirocco^® has been installed in the tunnel network of the accelerator with significant further quantities planned as the "Fermi@Elettra" system continues to be developed.

Whilst this is the first Sirocco^® deployment in Prysmian's home country of Italy and the first in such a specialized location it is by no means a new technology. It has now been installed in more than 20 countries around the world in recent years with more than 1 million kms of fibre deployed to date. Its main application is in the building of local business and domestic access telecom networks with numerous new installations taking place in relation to current growth in broadband demand. Fibre-to-the-home(FTTH) networks are now being rolled out on a daily basis and the chosen technology of many operators is Sirocco^®.

For further info go to www.prysmian.com

Also see www.elettra.trieste.it

Prysmian

A leading player in the industry of high-technology cables and systems for energy and telecommunication, the Prysmian Group is a truly global company with sales exceeding Euro 5 billion in 2008 and a strong position in higher value-added market segments. With its two businesses, Energy Cables & Systems (submarine and underground cables for power transmission and distribution, for industrial applications and for the distribution of electricity to residential and commercial buildings) and Telecom Cables & Systems (optical cables and fibres and copper cables for video, data and voice transmission), Prysmian boasts a global presence with subsidiaries in 38 countries, 53 plants in 21 countries, 7 Research & Development Centres in Europe, USA and South America, and around 12,000 employees. Specialising in the development of products and services designed to meet customers’ specific requirements, Prysmian's key strengths include: a focus on Research & Development, the capacity to innovate products and production processes, and the use of advanced proprietary technologies. Prysmian is listed at the Milan Stock Exchange in the Blue Chip index.

Source: Prysmian