Cable-Tec Expo 2018 Recap

08/11/2018

The dust has settled after what was an extremely busy week at the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® in Atlanta on Oct. 22-25. It was clear from the Expo that the cable industry is amidst large technological changes that will set the stage for service offerings for the next decade and beyond. Many of these technologies were positioned at the Expo, along with learning opportunities to prepare the industry for the new era. 

The market demand for increasing bandwidth was a recurring message throughout the week with many solution demonstrations on how to tackle the need. The demand for fiber optic cabling, especially high density cabling for better pathway utilization, is expected to continue its upward trend into 2019 and beyond. Fiber Deep architectures such as Node+0 and Remote PHY were on full display throughout the Expo.
 
AFL showcased many products at our booth to assist customers with conquering these challenges. The newly released Fujikura 31S and 41S fusion splicers along with the new CT08 and CT50 precision cleavers are designed to make deployment faster. On the connectivity side, the CGM Plus made headlines with its industry leading high density form factor WDM modules, as well as capability of housing legacy standard density LGX modules in the same housing.
 
With new products enabling these technologies and the products on the horizon, the emphasis for fiber optic cable, connectivity, fusion splicing and test equipment vendors was focused on lowering deployments costs and increasing deployment speeds.
 
Other highlights from the Expo include AFL as a presenting sponsor for the Cable-Tec Games and host of the Fiber Splicing portion of the competition with our industry-leading Fujikura 70S+ Fusion Splicer. Also, on the first night of the Expo, AFL was invited to a reception and presented with a 4.0 Diamonds award from the Diamond Technology Reviews for its FleXpress Fast OTDR Test Mode for FlexScan OTDRs. The Diamond Technology Reviews by Broadband Technology Report recognizes innovation in technology and is judged by a panel of executives from various operators.
 
It was clear during the show that as we close 2018, 2019 will continue to be an exciting and fast-paced time for cable operators and the vendors that support them.

Watch the video of BTR Report interviewing Will at the Cable-Tec Expo on the new CGM Plus.