Copper cable: the end is not near

Communications News, Feb, 1998 by Alan Stewart

Northern Telecom moved out of the cable and wire manufacturing business about five years ago to focus on core switching and transmission products, setting the stage for the creation three years later of NORDX/CDT. Along with many other switch manufacturers, Nortel was being buffeted by profound changes in the U.S. telephone marketplace. The company's drastic reorganization included a decision to sell its cable operations.

Heading up cable operations was Normand Bourque, an eight-year veteran manager of the division. He was given the task of repackaging and selling the division and soon found a purchaser. The successful bidder was a Pittsburgh wire and cable manufacturer, CDT (Cable Design Technologies). Because of Bourque's knowledge of the telecommunications industry, CDT asked him to head up its new acquisition.

CN: When you made the decision to head up NORDX did you feel that CDT's management understood the needs of the wider telecommunications industry for cable? After all, its core business was specialty cables for mainframe computers. Did CDT realize that it would have to change its approach to accommodate a client-server environment?

NB: The company knew it had to become more systems oriented to address its end users. Because it was principally a computer cable supplier, it had to reposition itself to increase sales. CDT viewed its Nortel acquisition as a method of achieving this goal. I think it was the right decision because NORDX business now accounts for about 40% of CDT's overall sales.

CN: How did you feel about leaving the reasonably stable environment afforded by Nortel after all that time and charting a course in the relatively unknown waters of a partly deregulated telephone industry?

NB: My 17 years with Nortel had made me familiar with the way the industry was evolving. Although many people in the company seemed to feel the end of copper cable was near, I saw a strong future in developing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling it. From a financial point of view, I just couldn't see any alternatives for the phone companies. Coaxial cable or fiber to the home didn't make sense viewed from the existing investment in copper.

CN: The ADSL Forum, in its early work, indicated that technologies like asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL) that operate from 1.5 Mbps to 9 Mbps will run over existing copper subscriber loops, providing some upgrades were done. Some carriers are now talking about even higher bit rates over the final 1,000 feet of drop wire. Can copper really handle this?

NB: I believe so. For example, in recent months Category 5 technology has been applied in some entirely new areas. We have introduced what we call PIC cables that can carry 52 Mbps over unshielded twisted pair wire. This gives the public carriers the opportunity to deploy broadband access to homes and businesses relatively inexpensively. The important thing is that these cables can use existing rights of way and standard electronics.

CN: Do you believe the promise of these very high bit rates will prompt the telcos to go in this direction?

NB: I don't think the local exchange carriers (LECs) have any choice. There's not enough cable capacity to go around these days. This situation is the legacy of many years of reduced maintenance and a long-term reduction in the amount of copper going into the ground. During the 1980s everyone thought access would be completely fiber. Obviously this was wrong. I believe that by the end of the decade we'll see widespread digital copper-based solutions.

CN: What do you think the main applications sent at these high bit rates will be? How well do you think NORDX/CDT can exploit this opportunity?

NB: We have a research group that keeps itself current on technologies that impact end users. When you talk about providing broadband to the home you have to look for the killer application. I think this will be switched digital video (SDV). The services will include interactive multimedia, digital graphics, high-speed Internet, and lots of other things. The telcos need broadband media to support these services, and I believe they can do it most economically using copper for the final mile.

CN: I understand that your Norcom division in Rolling Meadows, Ill., has been working with the regional Bells in this area. Is it your intention to help Norcom become a key player in providing very high bit rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) over conventional copper drop wires?

NB: Yes. Norcom is cooperating with the regional Bells on their VDSL and ADSL applications. It also has a marketing relationship with Orckit, a major DSL player. We have very precise data from Bell Northern Research (BNR) laboratories, and also from our internal R&D facilities, that show that upgrading the wire even slightly enables the telcos to run higher bit rates over unshielded twisted pair.

CN: Don't these results indicate that you need a high grade of wire to handle these speeds? Are you recommending Category 5 for VDSL?

NB: The difference between the various categories really boils down to information transport capacity. Category 3 was designed originally with 64 Kbps voice in mind. Today, its quality is good enough to support up to 10 Mbps over 100 meters of cable. But many users want even more. Higher categories have more accurate twist, high-consistency insulation, and better placement inside the sheath. These are important points in the era of 100 Mbps Ethernet, for example.