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Air-blown fiber vs. conventional cabling
PITTSBURGH — One of the most innovative network infrastructure solutions of the past decade has been air-blown fiber cabling.

Our business partner and manufacturer of air-blown fiber, Sumitomo Electric, breaks down the difference air-blown fiber and conventional cabling.
Scalability & Network MACs
Air-Blown Fiber
Keeps exact pace of emerging technology
Blow out fiber and reuse anywhere in your network
At speeds of up to 150 feet per minute, install any fiber type anytime and anywhere for easy and quick upgrades in a matter of minutes or hours
Conventional Cabling
Requires installation of additional cable, often taking weeks or months to plan and install
Once dark fiber is laid, it is not reusable… wasting investment dollars
Upgrades reported to take up to “12 times longer and 10 times the cost” of the air-blown fiber solution
Capacity Control & Allocation
Air-Blown Fiber
Minimizes the use of conduit space and provides virtually unlimited pathway, fiber, and bandwidth capacity
Tube cables provide simple demarcation of network components, destinations, and ownership
Conventional Cabling
Consumes conduit space, limiting network expansion, fiber count, and potential capacity
Difficult to define and allocate capacity ownership for current and future applications
Planning & Budgeting
Air-Blown Fiber
Eliminates forecasting future technology requirements
Saves 70-90% of time and labor costs
Fast and easy installation reduces planning time, increases responsiveness with quick project turnarounds, and controls recurring costs for positive ROI
Conventional Cabling
Requires guessing future network growth and other unpredictable variables
Extensive project planning slows turnaround, especially for emergencies and network restoration. High installation costs increase recurring costs, inhibiting ROI
Work Environments & Operations
Air-Blown Fiber
Blowing fiber results in no work site disruption and reduces or eliminates network downtime
Air-blown fiber can be “blown” easily anywhere at any time, including restricted access areas
Conventional Cabling
Pulling of cables requires construction work and installation crews disrupting the work environment and network operations
Difficulties, disruption, and additional expense when installing in restricted access or hazardous areas
Network Integrity
Air-Blown Fiber
Continuous point-to-point, splice-free connectivity between and within buildings reduces attenuation for better transmission and signal integrity
Conventional Cabling
Necessitates splicing and connection at various points between and within buildings, adding further labor costs, increasing attenuation, and points of failure
Time & Labor Savings
Air-Blown Fiber
3,000 feet of fiber can be blown in 30 minutes with only 2 installers
Conventional Cabling
It typically takes one-8 hour day with a minimum of 4 skilled installers to pull 3,000 feet of fiber optic cable