Taking micro-blown fibre cable to the next level

There are different ways you can install micro-fibre cables outdoors in tubes. The preferred option is by blowing. Blowing or jetting offers numerous advantages and is widely adopted by operators worldwide to deploy high speed bandwidth to consumers.

Why use micro-blown fibre cables?

For the past 15 years micro-blown fibre cables have been installed worldwide to connect homes, offices or FTTx networks. The reason for their popularity are the many benefits they bring; fast and flexible deployment, high reliability, cost effectiveness, low sensitivity to weather conditions and low maintenance. Microcables can be installed at several points of the network: in the backbone, from central office to street cabinets and ultimately to the end customer’s home or premises.

Cable air-jetting technology

Using a cable blowing technique called air-jetting, microcables are pushed through a conduit, called a microduct. This microduct is put under pressure by injecting compressed air using a blowing machine and a compressor. This creates an airflow that will carry the cable as it progresses through the microduct. The microduct can be installed in the ground or up in the air carried by poles.

A perfect match

So how far can you blow a microcable? Well, it depends. From Nexans testing facilities and feedback from the field we know it is possible to reach distances of over 3000 meter. Deciding factors are the cable size versus duct size, the materials they are made of, the microduct’s installation and route, the weather conditions during installation and the experience of the installer.

Nexans unique blown cable range

Nexans designs and manufactures microcables that can be blown over the 3 km mark due to an optimal combination of cable flexibility/rigidity, compact construction and low friction sheath materials. Optimised for harsh environments such as ice, mud, sun and water, Nexans microcables have been shown to outperform others in independent tests and really make them class leading in terms of installation speed and distance. We offer several designs from loose tube to unitube and bundles.