(34c) Development of a Specialty Jacket for Fiber Optic Cable Networks

Rapid growth in the Telecommunications market is being driven by demand for increased bandwidth, faster speeds, and lower latency to support technology evolutions such as 5G, cloud computing, and the internet of things. Requirements for reliable and high performing communications infrastructure are increasing while at the same time cable designs are evolving to accommodate higher fiber counts, reduced installation costs, and enable future expansion in dense communications networks through cable downgauging and lightweighting. This presentation describes an innovative high density polyethylene (HDPE) fiber optic cable jacket compound that was developed to meet the high performance needs of mini- and micro-cables. The compound provides an excellent balance of low shrinkage, high stiffness, low coefficient of friction (COF), and laser printability. The low COF enables easier installation and the laser printability provides enhanced cable identification over traditional jackets.