Future proof buildings with fibre ducting
(This article is published in ElectroLink November – December 2020 issue)
The hunger for more bandwidth driven by every advance in digital technologies has cemented fibre optic cable’s position as the go-to cabling solution for the future. Whether it is for entertainment in the home, business systems in offices or communications in industrial plants, the installation of fibre in buildings is now seen as the optimum solution for faster speeds and lower latency in the final mile of the UFB fibre rollout.
Picture 1. Stephen Wilson, Sales and Market Development Director, Hexatronic New Zealand
Even though few consumer devices and applications are currently designed to directly connect to fibre, says Stephen Willson, every building built today needs to have fibre capability installed at the design stage so that future data traffic demands can be delivered at the lowest installed cost and at the time an occupant requires it.
But just as when the Auckland harbour bridge was finally built and found to be inadequate for the traffic volume of the day, so too can poor planning for the future explosion of data traffic in buildings choke networks and limit their use long before the buildings are due to be replaced.
As the director of sales and market development for Hexatronic New Zealand, Willson says the only way to guarantee full data availability for the lifetime of a building is to have air-blown fibre ducting installed from the outset or when a refurbishment is due.
Picture 2. Hexatronic New Zealand manufactures the Air Blown Fibre ducting in Porirua.
“Installing the latest cable does not future-proof a building, but installing air-blown fibre ducting does. A Hexatronic ducting system extends the fast data highway from the street to distribution points in buildings and ultimately to the desktop. This allows users to blow in any amount of bandwidth at any time they want.
“Our blown fibre systems also surpass traditional solutions by reducing material and installation costs and taking the risk out of future demand because even a simple ducting system will provide all the bandwidth needed for 5G and beyond,” says Willson.
“A Hexatronic blown fibre system for buildings and homes requires fewer fibre connection points and simpler repairs and maintenance while providing a migration path for future applications. Savings over a non-ducted fibre installation can be as high as 30 percent.”
