TELECOM CABLES: Go by Staying Power

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Service providers are using OFC in the backbone and PIJF on the access front. But with people opting for wireless technologies on the access, OFC is still the preferred choice for the majority of new basic service providers in the country.

n Polyethylene Insulated Jelly-filled (PIJF) Cable: PIJF is an assembly of a number of pairs of copper wires. The gap between the pairs of wires is filled with petroleum jelly to reduce noise and transmission losses. Each line has two wires—one for incoming and the other for outgoing.

There are two types of PIJF cables in use—solid PIJF cable and foamed PIJF cable. In case of the solid PIJF cable, the conductor is insulated with solid polyethylene. This type of cable is presently used in the DoT network. In case of foamed PIJF cable, the conductor insulation is foamed to form a cellular cross-section, with a suitable foaming agent.

Telecom Cable Manufacturers at a Glance
Rank	Company	Turnover (2001-02) (in Rs Cr)	Turnover (2000-01) (in Rs Cr)
1	Sterlite Optical Technologies	954.89	763.79
2	Finolex Cables	374.84	315.8
3	Vindhya Telelinks	328.89	368
4	Aksh	231.7	142.54
5	Birla Ericsson Optical	215.95	194.87
6	Usha Beltron	203	216
7	RPG Cables	170	264
8	Paramount Cables	136	163.01
9	Tamil Nadu Telecommunications	128.1	113
10	Bhagyanagar Metals	94	127
11	Telephone Cables Ltd	90	79.5
12	Delton Cables	70.47	83.45
13	Surana Telecom	69.39	65.08
14	Concepta Cables	66	97
15	Gujarat Telephone Cables	53	184
16	Sudarshan Telecom	46.82	9.74
17	Others	900	944
	Total	4,133.05	4,130.78
V&D Estimate

n Optical Fiber Cables (OFC): OFC offers almost unlimited bandwidth and unique advantages over all previously developed transmission media. OFCs are no longer dominant only in the transport network or feeder line but have penetrated to a large extent in the subscriber loop as well. With fiber, one can transmit narrowband, wideband and broadband communication services to the end-subscriber through POTS, ISDN phone, video phone, and video-conferencing. Most of the private service providers are focussing more to provide fiber to the building.

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