Indoor/Outdoor Fiber Cables for Strength and Safety
Our CommScope fiber optic cables come in a wide variety of designs depending on the requirements determined by the installation environment. Outside plant fiber optic cables are suitable for applications such as direct burial in trenches, preinstalled in conduit, lashed to aerial utility poles, messenger options for self supporting features or installation in pavement.
For direct buried, underground conduit and aerial installations, CommScope offers several fiber optic cable designs, which include a variety of loose tube, central tube, and drop cables. CommScope’s design for these hybrid application cables offer construction and jacketing suitable for outside usage yet comply with UL and CSA riser (OFNR) or plenum (OFNP) flame standards. This design allows you to run cable through the building entrance without having to terminate and splice different cables together which results in significant savings in time and labor.
Indoor/Outdoor Fiber Optic Cable types include dielectric central tube designs, dielectric stranded loose tube cables and Triathlon®, a specially designed low-smoke/zero halogen distribution and cordage cable construction.
Indoor/Outdoor Cables offer a unique blend of abilities. They are tough enough to withstand the rigors of the outside plant, yet are riser-rated (NEC 770 OFNR) or plenum rated (NEC 770 OFNP) for indoor use. The advantage of an indoor/outdoor cable is that it can pass from the outside to the inside intact, with no need to transition from one cable type to another, thus saving the time and labor involved in creating an additional splice point. CommScope cables meet or exceed all Telcordia GR-409-CORE requirements as well as GR-20-CORE requirements for crush resistance, impact resistance, flexing and twist/bend.
Another technical achievement in CommScope’s indoor/ outdoor cables is the use of our Arid-Core® dry water blocking technology. Instead of the traditional hard-to-clean flooding gel, Arid-Core remains dry inside the cable. Once exposed to moisture, Arid-Core rapidly swells to form a gel that stops water penetration. The result is a craft-friendly cable that reduces termination time, effort and cost.
Among CommScope’s Indoor/Outdoor Constructions for Broadband Applications are:
Riser-Rated
Triathlon Low Smoke/Zero Halogen (LSZH) Distribution cables of up to 24 tight buffered fibers
Triathlon Low Smoke/Zero Halogen (LSZH) Cordage cables in simplex, duplex, zipcord and interconnect designs
Central Tube cables of up to 24 fibers in a robust all dielectric design
Stranded Loose Tube cables available in counts up to 288 fibers
Plenum-Rated
Stranded Loose Tube cables are available in counts up to 72 fibers
Fiber Optic Premise Designs for Indoor Applications
CommScope offers a complete line of riser and plenum rated cables for use inside buildings and customer premises. As with Outside Plant cables, CommScope cables for premises are available with application specific fibers such as LightScope ZWP® and LaserCore® fiber optic glass types (type 8W and 5L, respectively). There are a number of standard singlemode and multimode fiber offerings that provide a diverse range of products that will suit all of your cabling needs. The LaserCore cordage and building cables can be used today with 10-Mbps applications and will carry you into the future for systems that will run 10-Gbps. The total system will carry you from the outside plant through the building entrance up the riser, across the horizontal, all the way to the work station. CommScope’s complete system of cable and components will meet your current and future needs.
Engineered with two goals in mind - excellent mechanical/ optical performance coupled with superior fire safety ratings, CommScope premises cables offer a family of cables that meet all critical NEC requirements for riser or plenum applications while offering unique resistance to installation and termination stresses.
Buffered subunits of 12 fibers are engineered into constructions that are up to 30% smaller in diameter and 50% lighter than comparable products. The result is a compact cable that easily installs and terminates.
Riser-Rated Premise Cables Include:
Riser-Rated Distribution cable designed with up to 144 fibers
Indoor/Outdoor Distribution cable containing up to 72 fibers
Stranded Loose Tube design up to 288 fibers
Riser-Rated Cordage
Plenum-Rated Premise Cables Include:
Plenum-Rated Distribution cable designed with up to 144 fibers
Plenum-Rated Cordage
Premise fiber optic cables meet or exceed performance standards as established by Bellcore Telcordia GR-409, TIA/EIA 568B, ICEA 83-596, ANSI X3.166-1990 & X3T9.5 PMD, FDDI, ATM, Fibre Channel and HIPPI. Riser and Plenum Cables will follow Telcordia GR-409 jacket color code specs: singlemode is yellow and multimode and composites are orange.
Outside Plant Fiber Cables for Demanding Broadband Environments
Our CommScope fiber optic cables come in a wide variety of designs depending on the requirements determined by the installation environment. Outside plant fiber optic cables are suitable for applications such as direct burial in trenches, preinstalled in conduit, lashed to aerial utility poles, messenger options for self supporting features or installation in pavement.
For direct buried, underground conduit and aerial installations, CommScope offers several fiber optic cable designs, which include a variety of loose tube, central tube, and drop cables.
Design options include:
Drop cables – Flexible, versatile and craft-friendly low count drop solutions providing alternative means of accessing new customers and new markets. Design variations include all-dielectric, armored, and messengered constructions.
Central Tube – Armored and all-dielectric constructions for point-to-point installations in counts up to 96 arranged in easy-to-handle color-coded subunits of 12 fibers each.
Fiber-In-ConQuest Conduit - All of CommScope’s fiber cables can be pre-installed in conduit, including the gel free, Dry Loose Tube cable. Available in five different diameters - 3 / 4”, 1”, 11 / 4”, 11 / 2” and 2” and three different wall thicknesses - SDR 11, SDR 13.5 and SCH 40.
Drop cables – Flexible, versatile and craft-friendly low count drop solutions providing alternative means of accessing new customers and new markets. Design variations include all-dielectric, armored, and messengered constructions.
Precise Production Control and Rigorous Testing Ensure Trouble-Free Fiber Optic Cable
The superior performance of CommScope fiber optic cables derives as much from the manufacturing process as from the components. CommScope manufactures its cables in an ISO registered facility with leading edge SPC and PLC equipment. Because we have been involved with broadband cable systems since 1966, we offer a combination of extra features:
Controlled Cable Traverse - CommScope fiber optic cables are traversed so they coil neatly and permit the smoothest possible payoff, thus avoiding cable kinking and snagging during payoff in the field.
Water Penetration Testing - Both ends of the cable are cut off and tested to Telcordia standards for water penetration. The one-meter sections are connected to a one-meter column of water. The cable section should be able to prevent seepage over its length for a 24-hour period.
Certified Test Report - A report of attenuation and length test results is attached to the reel for proof of performance and to provide a baseline for installer testing in the field.
CommScope also takes the extra step of spooling cable onto high quality reels. A good, nonwarped reel helps payout and lessens the chance of the cable rubbing against the reel to cause abrasion of the cable jacket. A solid reel also prevents painful splinters – something the experienced installer will appreciate.
LightScope ZWP Singlemode Fiber
CommScope provides key optical and geometrical features in its standard singlemode fiber for fusion splice compatibility with other fiber manufacturers and legacy fiber. LightScope ZWP singlemode optical fiber cable continues a CommScope tradition of being a leader in manufacturing innovative and performance-enhanced products for the cable industry.
LightScope ZWP optical fiber cable makes available 30% more usable transmission spectrum, which can be used for return path, enhanced video services such as video on demand (VOD) or Dedicated Wavelength Services for business or other demanding applications.