TIA FOLS bannenr
Fiber Optics in the Enterprise
TIA Fiber Optics LAN Section
June 2008
 
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FOLS Members

3M
Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company
Corning
Corning Cable Systems
Draka Communications
Fluke Networks
OFS
CommScope
Ortronics/Legrand
Panduit
Sumitomo Electric Lightwave
Superior Essex
Tyco Electronics
 


Cost Model Downloads

To date, more than 3250 users have downloaded FOLS' free
Cost Model.




You Asked

FOLS receives many questions from users about optical fiber in the enterprise. Read the answer to one of our recent questions:

When adding a new building to a campus cabled with 62.5 micron fiber, can the new building be cabled with 50 micron fiber?

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Featured Installation

NASA's John F. Kennendy Space Center Deploys FutureFLEX Air-blown Fiber


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Recent Presentations

Members of the FOLS are frequently asked to speak at prestigious industry conferences and seminars. Links to some of their most recent presentations, and other industry presentations that we find to be of interest, are below:

Fiber Certification: The Impact of New Standard for Multimode Fiber Measurement, presented by Dr. Andre Girard and Dr. Gang He EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering.

Bend Optimized Fiber in FTTx Applications, presented by David Mazzarese, OFS, at the Spring 2008 BICSI Conference in Nashville.

LAN Standards, News & Trends, presented by Herb Congdon, Tyco Electronics.







Visit the Fiber Optics LAN Section
or call us at 781-259-8584.


Copyright 2008 Telecommunications Industry Association
::

Welcome to Fiber Optics in the Enterprise, a newsletter published by the Fiber Optics LAN Section (FOLS) of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). Since our last newsletter our organization has made two changes that we'd like to share with you. First, we have revised our mission statement:

The Fiber Optics LAN Section (FOLS) of TIA represents technology leaders committed to providing the most current, reliable, and vendor neutral information about fiber optics and related technologies for advancing new and better communications solutions.

Second, we opened up our membership so that companies that are not yet TIA members are able to participate. The details are discussed below.

Regards,

Rodney Casteel, Chair FOLS
[email protected]

FOLS Introduces Affiliate Membership Program

The FOLS has introduced a new Affiliate Membership program to allow companies that are not TIA members to participate in FOLS.

"There are many benefits to joining FOLS," explained Rodney Casteel, FOLS Chair. "Our members value the chance to network with their peers, to participate in industry-wide educational initiatives, to influence the interpretation of industry standards and architectures and to increase the understanding of the use of fiber optics in the enterprise."

Casteel commented that through FOLS participation, members and their representatives are able to extend the reach of their own marketing efforts by increasing their visibility at industry conferences and through additional exposure through bylined articles for trade publications. 

Under the Affiliate Membership program, companies or individuals can join at two rates: $3500 to become a sponsoring member or $5,000 to become a full member. Visit our Web site to read details about the FOLS Benefits at each membership level and to access an on-line membership application.



Merger of TIA TR-42 and FO-4 Promises Synergy and Long-term Benefits

Members of FOLS believe that the recent merger of TIA FO-4, Committee on Fiber Optics, Engineering Committee merged into the TIA TR-42, User Premises Telecommunications Cabling Infrastructure, Engineering Committee represents a positive move in the industry.
 
According to Herb Congdon, Chair of TR-42, and FOLS Standards Chair, "While there will be little short-term impact on the responsibilities and activities of these committees and their subcommittees, there are some longer-term benefits expected." He explained, "The TIA's Technical Committee saw an opportunity to bolster the FO-4 Engineering Committee, which has experienced a decline in participation in the past few years. The increasing use of optical fiber in customer-owned networks, such as commercial buildings and data centers, and the recognized absence of optical fiber component and testing expertise meant that the TIA TR-42 Engineering Committee was a likely partner for FO-4."
 
In February 2007, the two Engineering Committees started co-locating their meetings and hosting joint leadership meetings. Through the year, it became apparent that there were multiple synergistic benefits to be realized from the merger, such as:
 
  • Balancing the component and testing expertise for balanced twisted-pair cabling in TR-42.7 with component and testing expertise for optical fiber cabling in TR-42.8;
  • Incorporating optical fiber into new and existing common and premise standards; and
  • Capitalizing on new applications that are based on optical fiber.
 
Now that the merger is complete, the committee leadership is revising the scope of the TR-42 Engineering Committee, and re-numbering the FO-4 subcommittees. For simplicity, the FO-4 subcommittees have been re-numbered as follows:
 
  • FO-4.1 will be TR-42.11
  • FO-4.2 will be TR-42.12
  • FO-4.3 will be TR-42.13
  • FO-4.5 will be TR-42.15
 
The subcommittee leadership of the FO-4 subcommittees was not affected by the merger. However, there were regularly scheduled elections in February that resulted in some new leadership in several subcommittees. The merged TR-42 Plenary Officers elected were Herb Congdon (Tyco Electronics) as Chair and Bob Jensen (Fluke Networks) as Vice-chair. Herb had served as Chair of TR-42 prior to the merger, and Bob was serving as interim Chair of FO-4.

Standards Update

Learn more about the current status of: