Plastic Optical Fiber Enters FTTH, Becoming a Global Market "Favorite"
Currently, operators continue to promote broadband speed upgrades, with 4M, 8M, and even 20M access bandwidth becoming new targets for access network construction and renovation. To achieve higher access bandwidth, FTTH advancement is at the forefront, while China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom are also accelerating FTTH deployment.
Plastic Optical Fiber Is Especially Suitable for FTTH
To ensure the smooth implementation of FTTH, with PON equipment already mature in use, in-building and indoor fiber cabling has become the final hurdle in FTTH promotion.
At this critical juncture, plastic optical fiber has broken through the final barrier of FTTH with its technical advantages. Plastic optical fiber features a large core diameter, easy coupling, no need for fusion splicing or welding, light weight, and good flexibility with bendability. It also offers corrosion resistance, moisture resistance, shock and explosion protection, as well as immunity to electromagnetic interference and radiation. It provides strong confidentiality, security, and anti-interference capabilities, with attenuation being a constant that does not vary with transmission conditions.
Therefore, plastic optical fiber for communications is a strong competitor and even a substitute for copper cable. Computer network terminals within a building or a computer network can be interconnected via plastic optical fiber to form a complete superior network, making it a mainstay of FTTH.
In recent years, China's broadband network has developed rapidly, with network scale and user numbers continuously increasing. According to statistics, China's internet users have exceeded 380 million, ranking first in the world, of which broadband internet access users have reached 110 million.
To further promote the development of broadband networks, in April 2010, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and six other departments jointly issued opinions on advancing optical fiber broadband network construction, clearly proposing to accelerate the construction of optical fiber broadband networks and effectively leverage the role of optical fiber broadband networks in promoting national economic and social development.
Not only FTTH services, but also the in-depth development of triple play, copper-to-fiber migration, and smart grid services has provided an unprecedented opportunity for the development of China's plastic optical fiber industry.
In fact, when the country implements the "copper-to-fiber migration" initiative, it hopes to involve more resource-saving and environmentally friendly technologies and products. Plastic optical fiber products already possess these fundamental technical conditions. What they need most is to rapidly develop into a healthy and orderly industry, improve various standards, and quickly integrate more industrial forces. To accomplish this, China's plastic optical fiber industry urgently needs to enhance its "soft power" of core competitiveness.
A Recognized "Favorite" in Domestic and International Markets
Domestically, to further promote the development of the plastic optical fiber industry, OFweek Optical Communications Network reported on June 29 that the China Plastic Optical Fiber Industry Alliance and the Plastic Optical Fiber Industry Professional Committee of the China Informatization Promotion Alliance were officially established in Beijing.
At the alliance's founding conference, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the rapid advancement of triple play will bring opportunities for the development of the plastic optical fiber industry, and its broad market prospects will attract more enterprises to join the plastic optical fiber industry.
China is vigorously enhancing the capacity of its information infrastructure, striving to achieve the development goals of investing over RMB 150 billion in optical fiber broadband network construction within three years and adding over 50 million new broadband users. Currently, plastic optical fiber products are being applied in an increasingly wide range of fields. With characteristics such as environmental friendliness, low cost, and ease of operation, plastic optical fiber is not only especially suitable for fiber-to-the-home but also enables China's optical fiber industry to actively seize market opportunities and promote applications related to plastic optical fiber ubiquitous networks and the Internet of Things.
Internationally, according to a market research and analysis report on plastic optical fiber technology and market development released by IGI Corporation in mid-July, plastic optical fiber will experience explosive growth in the coming years, driven strongly by European optical fiber manufacturers and other companies with the latest technologies.
IGI stated that in the telecommunications network sector, the use of plastic optical fiber is unrestricted, and its market is rising day by day. For example, in addition to applications in the automation field, the continuous demand from industrial control and medical applications has also become a growth engine for plastic optical fiber.
Meanwhile, the continuous development of new energy technologies, connectors, and optical fibers has also extended the application of plastic optical fiber across multiple fields. Plastic optical fiber used for short-distance transmission continues to generate revenue for manufacturers. It is reported that high-speed network links with transmission distances below 100 meters, with rates up to 20Gbps, also utilize plastic optical fiber.
At this point, it is not difficult to see that both domestic and international markets are highly optimistic about the development prospects of the plastic optical fiber market. Whether it is domestic triple play and FTTH advancement, or international industrial control and medical application demands, there will be enormous market demand for plastic optical fiber. With its excellent characteristics, plastic optical fiber has become a "favorite" in the optical fiber market both at home and abroad.