SA Mohan, general manager, Sales and Marketing, Molex India

What are the trends in structured cabling industry?
Acceptance of Cat6 is faster than anticipated for copper systems. For fiber, 10 Gigabit capable OM3 (multimode fiber) and Singlemode "Low water peak" fibers are preferred for the building and campus backbone respectively.

What new standards and technologies have been introduced and are selling in the market?
With respect to new technologies, 10G over UTP is the latest development. IEEE 802.3an, the standard for this technology is still in draft stage and may take another two years for ratification. Demand for this is still low, though customers have evinced interest in this product line for use in specific applications e.g. data centers/server rooms/SAN etc. Most vendors have launched an augmented Category 6 system, which supports this application.

What is the status of PoE in India? What is happening globally in this field?

SA Mohan

PoE is being deployed for specific applications like VOIP with midspan and endspan devices. Deployment may increase as new applications/equipment are launched.

How has the market responded to 10G and Cat7 cables?
Deployment of 10G is mostly in campus/building backbones and fiber is the preferred media at the moment. The Cat7 standard is still in draft stages, as a result products/performance is still being defined. There are not many enquiries from customers for this product as there are no specific applications, current or planned, which need a Cat7 system.

Where do you see the industry going when it comes to the price of 10G over copper and fiber?
As the volume grows, there is a reduction in product prices. For 10G over copper, we expect the demand to pick up once the relevant IEEE standard (802.3an) standard is ratified and commercial deployment of active equipment increases. 10G over fiber was ratified over three years back (IEEE 802.3ae) and both MM & SM fibers are commonly available for the same.

What new is happening in structured cabling business in terms of technology and new categories of cables?
Intelligent cabling management systems & 10G over copper are going to have promising future as they mature. Currently, we are witnessing a high growth rate but the market is still not mature. The next two-three years would be more exciting and the growth curve would also be on the rise. The industry would be witnessing a next phase of technology uptake and adoption.