STL releases a comprehensive optical suite for India’s 5G readiness

STL launched a comprehensive suite of optical connectivity solutions to empower India’s 5G readiness. With recently held spectrum auctions, India is at a key point in its 5G connectivity and is expected to have 200 mn 5G subscribers by 2025. The industry requires state-of-the-art optical products that can make 5G deployment quick, easy and cost-effective.

For the past couple of years, STL has been gearing up for India’s 5G revolution. The company is breaking new grounds in 5G technology with homegrown optical connectivity solutions. Continuing the momentum, STL announced a suite of compatible optical connectivity products to boost India’s 5G readiness, comprising a range of optical fibre and cables and interconnect solutions. These include:

· Stellar fibre- G.657.A2 macro-bend insensitive fibre. It is compatible with legacy 4G and optical metro networks comprising G.657.A1 and G.652D

· Celesta Intelligently Bonded Ribbon Cable combined with Compact Optical Ribbon Closure (CORC) - a high-density optical fibre cable with up to 6912 fibres. This supports faster, easier and cost-optimised network deployments by offering high capacity and better duct space utilisation

· Micromodule cable with Micro-Optical Demarcation Closure - highly compact closure optimised for urban deployment. It offers fast, efficient and tool-free installation for both aerial and underground fibre build-outs

· Preconnectorised drop cabling solutions - A solution for indoor and outdoor small-cell connectivity; this pre-connectorized solution offers significant time savings during 5G infrastructure build-outs, reducing deployment complexity and the need for specialized labour

These optical solutions will enable four core benefits for network creators - scalable and agile operations, faster time-to-market, lower TCO and greener networks.

To increase capabilities in 5G-suited optical products, STL is also taking the following initiatives:

· Enhancing fibre and cable production capacity - 5G will require large-scale OFC deployment. Anticipating this demand, STL has been ramping up its capacities over the past few quarters. It is planning to raise the production capacity of optical fibre to 50 mn fkm this year and will increase cable capacity to 42 mn fkm in FY23

· Manufacturing a new suite of pre-connectorized solutions with a state-of-the-art facility - STL’s optical interconnect facility in Dadra, India tackles all field-related complexities and devises integrated solutions for the same

· Devising deployment methodology with LEAD 360o - A hyperscale network deployment solution for faster and more efficient 5G-led fibre rollouts

· Developing skilled talent pool - STL has been training more than 1,00,000 professionals on 5G technology through STL Academy. It has recently signed a MoU with NASSCOM to increase the number of certified professionals in India 10X by 2024.

Launching these solutions, Paul Atkinson, STL, said, “We believe our optical solutions will make India accelerate towards 5G connectivity. We will continue to build innovative, cost-effective products to enable accelerated network rollouts for a seamless user experience and empower digital transformation at scale, connecting billions.”