For the past six months, North American cable operators have been trialing a cable-extraction technology from Kabel-X USA that lets them remove older coaxial cable and replace it with new fiber-optic cable.
While the process isn’t new, Kabel-X USA is a new player in North America. Once a small access point is made in the cable, biodegradable, liquid solutions are pumped under pressure into the cables using a proprietary combination of fluid viscosities, ingredients and pressures to allow the copper coaxial cores to be extracted quickly and economically. The end result is an empty cable sheath left in the ground that can be re-used for replacement, repair or fiber upgrades.
The process saves cable and telco providers from trenching and cuts down on the cost of replacing and upgrading coaxial or copper cables, according to Kabel-X USA.
“Cable service providers have been looking for cost-effective and less intrusive construction alternatives to line excavation and replacement for a long time,” said Darin Clause, executive vice president for Kabel-X USA. “Whether to the node, pole or beyond, Kabel-X technology removes line access costs and hassles by leveraging the most efficient and minimally disruptive cable conversion process on the market.”
Kabel-X’s copper/coaxial cable replacement technology has been used in more than 120 countries in the last four years.
Kabel-X USA was formed in 2006 when the founding partners of its parent company, Ficient Technologies LLC, learned about the technology, which was developed by Vienna, Austria-based Kabel-X. Kabel-X USA has the North American rights to the cable-extraction technology.
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