TecHnoLoGy - Broadband Properties

BroadbandPropertieswww.bbpmag.com2008TO P100FTTB market with a bidirectional fibernode. Radiant Communications,also a new listing, was mainly a militarysupplier but has increased its civilianfootprint. Another new listing is PacificBroadband Networks, an Australianvendor that only recently entered the USmarket. The field is crowded with manygood vendors already on the Top 100list, such as Blonder Tongue Laboratories,but new off-the-shelf feature setsmake it ever-easier to deploy or expandfiber networks without resorting to engineers.APC, an American-based companynow part of Schneider Electric,certainly sells into the FTTH market ina big way, but not quite big enough tomake the list this year.Tyco had signaled to us last year thatit was unclear about FTTH. Would itsdivision making terrific OSP equipmentbe sold? But even as last year’s Top 100reached subscribers, Tyco had reevaluatedthe strength and growth opportunitiesin FTTH, rethought its strategyand came roaring back. It easily madeour list this year.We keep thinking about constructionequipment vendors on the list, firmssuch as Astec Underground, Vermeer,TT Technologies and Ditch Witch. Fiberis a small part of their business. Butas deployments increasingly move intourban areas and around built-up MDUs,network builders sing their praises evermore strongly. Likewise, Kabel-X (withits clever technology for removing copperfrom existing underground sheathesand replacing it with fiber) has becomewell field-tested over the past year. Itnow makes our list.Today, thanks to many companies,the cost of fiber-optic deployments is 70percent of what it was a year ago – anda year ago it was half of 2006 costs. Thebig innovation that echoed through theindustry since the last Top 100 list is,of course, bend-tolerant fiber. We notedit last year in lauding Corning CableSystems, and predicted its competitorswould respond. They did. Corning andothers also introduced new in-buildingdistribution systems, taking advantageof bend-tolerance to cut the size ofequipment boxes and other inside plantequipment. Result: Urban areas becausenew targets for FTTH over the past 12months, even as greenfield builds werefaltering due to the broad economy.Judge for yourself. And let us knowabout organizations – large and small– you think might make a difference ayear from now. Your nominations ledus to examine more than 50 companiesthis year, and more than a half-dozenmade the list – companies we might nototherwise have known about.About the AuthorsOur Top 100 list was researched by MarianneCotter, Rachel Ellner and KassandraKania, supervised by Telecom EditorMasha Zager and overseen by Editor-in-Chief Steve Ross. Suggestions for next year?E-mail steve@broadbandproperties.com.Company web Address Phone Description3M Company/CommunicationMarkets Division www.3M.com/telecom 800-426-8688 Interconnection, fiber management andfacilities protection products for broadbandnetworksA-D Technologies www.adtechnologies.com 800-847-7661 Materials and equipment for installationand protection of telecom and other cablesActiontec Electronics www.actiontec.com 408-752-7700 Broadband customer-premises equipmentADC www.adc.com 952-938-8080; Fiber and copper connectivity products,800-366-3889 structured cabling solutions, wirelessequipment, professional servicesAdesta www.adestagroup.com 402-233-7700 Design, construction and maintenance ofcommunications networksADTRAN www.adtran.com 256-963-8000 Solutions for broadband access, outsideplant, carrier Ethernet, optical access andmobile backhaulAdvanced Media Technologies www.amt.com 888-293-5856; Distributor of fiber optic transmission954-427-5711 equipment, headend, IP and QAMset-top boxes, cable modemsAFL Telecommunications www.afltele.com 864-433-0333; FTTx electronics, wireless, network800-235-3423 management platforms, fiber optic cable,interconnect products, optical connectivity,outside plant, fusion splicers and testequipment, system integration34 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | July 2008