OFS Announces Commercial Availability of Its Active Clad Alignment FITEL(R) S153A Fusion Splicer to the North American Market

SAN DIEGO, March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- OFC/NFOEC 2010, Booth 1023 - OFS today announces the commercial release of its active clad alignment FITEL® S153A hand-held fusion splicer to the North American market at the industry's premier annual conference, OFC/NFOEC in San Diego, California March 21-25, 2010.

"The key advantage of the FITEL S153A splicer is that it helps to achieve lower splicing loss with less user skills required as compared to a conventional fixed v-groove clad alignment fusion splicer," said Linda Dembowski, General Manager, Optical Connectivity Solutions. "Lower splicing loss makes the S153 fusion splicer a front runner in low cost field splicing equipment."

Combined with the FITEL S178 fusion splicer announced in January 2010, OFS offers a wide range of rugged hand-held fusion splicers offering speed, durability, and low loss in a smaller, lighter hand-held design.

These two machines are both designed to endure harsh operating conditions by improving shock / impact resistance with rubber pads embedded on 4 corners of the splicer body. Both fusion splicers are also water resistance compliant to IPX2 and dust resistance compliant to IP5X.

Another key feature of the S178 and the S153A is the significantly reduced operation time as compared to a conventional fusion splicer. Protection sleeve shrink time is a mere 25 seconds (with pre-heating mode), while splicing requires only 9 seconds with S153A. Power saving technology used in these machines allows up to 200 splicing cycles (splicing and heating) with 2 built in rechargeable batteries. By combining improved speed, precision, durability and portability in one body, the S178 and S153A usher in new possibilities for fusion splicing applications.

The S153A is capable of splicing common telecommunication fibers such as SM / MM (singlemode/ multimode). In addition, the S153A also boasts splice programs for BIF / UBIF (bend insensitive fiber / ultra bend insensitive fiber) which is more commonly used for FTTH applications.

S153A Fusion Splicer Product Features:

• Active clad alignment helps eliminate common errors.
• Canopy design, durable metal body frame and rubber protection corners provide robust protection for demanding environmental conditions.
• Fast splice (9 sec.) with low loss and fast heating (25 sec.).
• 200 cycles (splicing and heating) with FITEL series battery configuration.
• Available for ALL METRO/ LAN/ FTTx fibers including ultra bend insensitive fibers (e.g. EZ-Bend® fiber).
• Splicer is compatible with the Seikoh Giken and Diamond splice-on-connector (SOC).
• Easy maintenance – Toolless electrode replacement along with a mirror free alignment system.
• Easy software upgrade via the Internet.
• RoHS compliant.

About OFS

OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTX, optical connectivity and specialty photonics products.  Our manufacturing and research divisions work together to provide innovative products and solutions that traverse many different applications as they link people and machines worldwide. Between continents, between cities, around neighborhoods, and into homes and businesses of digital consumers we provide the right optical fiber, optical cable and components for efficient, cost-effective transmission.

OFS' corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and includes technology powerhouses such as AT&T and Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent). Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications.

Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta) Georgia, U.S., OFS is a global provider with facilities in Avon, Connecticut; Carrollton, Georgia; Somerset, New Jersey; and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, as well as in Denmark, Germany and Russia.

For more information, please visit www.ofsoptics.com.

SOURCE OFS