Optical Fibre Cable

The wireless carrier aims to double its fiber internet availability and enhance its 5G network, offering customers bundled discounts on high-speed fiber data and wireless phone services

Telecom gear maker HFCL Ltd on Monday said the company along with its consortium partners has been declared the lowest bidder for optical fibre-based broadband network projects worth Rs 13,000 crore under BharatNet Phase III for UP East, UP West and Punjab circles. The company placed bids for UP East and UP West through consortium partners and alone for the Punjab circle. "HFCL-Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL)-Aerial Telecom Solutions Private Limited, a Consortium has been declared as the Lowest Bidders by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), for bids valued at around Rs 6,925 crore to provide middle-mile network in Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West) under the BharatNet Phase III programme," the company said in the filing. The consortium will be awarded 10 years of operation and maintenance (O&M) order at an annual rate of 5.5 per cent of capex for the first five years and 6.5 per cent for the subsequent five years which will be worth about Rs 4,155 crores, after ...

Domestic telecom gear make HFCL on Monday posted 4.5 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit for second quarter ended September 2024 (Q2FY25) to Rs 73 crore. The Q2 revenue, however, slipped 1.61 per cent year-on-year to about Rs 1,094 crore. In a statement, HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata noted that the company delivered steady performance despite the ongoing softness in demand for Optic Fiber Cables globally. "Further, monsoon season in several parts of the country impacted execution of work, causing some revenue to spill over into the next quarter," Nahata said. The company said Q2FY25 was marked by some significant milestones. HFCL delivered one of the world's largest advanced broadband network gateway projects for BSNL, it added. The company also entered into a strategic partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporated (GA-ASI), US, to develop critical sub-systems for one of the world's most sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles ...

Domestic telecom gear maker HFCL expects 70 per cent of its revenue in fibre optic segment and half of network equipment business will start flowing into the company from exports in the next three years, a top company official said on Wednesday. HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata told PTI that the company is now seeing a surge in demand for 5G gears after telecom operators have installed 5G mobile towers across the country. Apart from optic fibre cable, HFCL provides peripheral telecom equipment that connects with base stations to enhance coverage. "In telecom we have two type of products -- telecom equipment and optical fibre. Our plan in fibre optic cable is in three years time, 70 per cent of our revenue should come from exports. In telecom equipment, in three years, around 50 per cent of revenue will come from exports," Nahata said. He said the company is already exporting fibre optic cables to 40 countries and has recently started exports of telecom equipment as well. "Ma

High-tech glass company Corning is bullish on growth from mobile consumer electronics and life sciences businesses in India, a senior company official said on Thursday. The automotive and optical fibre business is the biggest revenue contributor to the company in the country, at present. Corning which started business by providing glass cover for bulb invented by Thomas Alva Edison has expanded into several verticals to provide glass technology ranging from electronics display protection cover for mobile, television displays, semiconductor manufacturing, space telescopes to glass based packaging for labs, vaccines etc. "We waited for ecosystem to be established in India where we are seeing now global players are already establishing footprints to manufacture smartphones, and we just want to be a part of the supply chain. India is now becoming a rising star. We want to just be part of the story," Corning International, division vice president and general manager Gokhan Doran told ...

Telecom gear maker GX Group expects its revenue to grow by 66 per cent to Rs 500 crore by financial year 2026, on account of growth in domestic business as well as exports, a top company official has said. The company makes Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) gears that are required to run fibre-based broadband networks. GX Group also makes routers and switches as well as Internet of Things (IoT) devices in India. GX Group CEO Paritosh Prajapati told PTI that the company is looking to expand its manufacturing unit in India with an investment of Rs 100 crore in the current financial year. According to him, benefits from the telecom production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme are one of the key growth drivers for the company. "We have achieved a 40 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in consecutive years, supporting us to grow from a Rs 300 crore to a Rs 500 crore company within the next two financial years. "We are planning to build India as our Global hub, therefore, we are ...

India already has over 4 million km of fibre optic cables, primarily owned by telecom operators

Indian telecom gear maker HFCL has announced a strategic expansion into Europe with the setting up of an optical fibre cable manufacturing plant in Poland. In a release, HFCL said the move marks a milestone in the company's global expansion strategy, aimed at addressing the increasing demand for OFC in European markets such as the UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Poland, among others. HFCL's manufacturing unit in Poland will begin with a capacity of 3.25 million fibre km (fkm) and scalable up to 7 million fkm, with an initial capital outlay of up to Rs 144 crore, thus fulfilling the increasing OFC demand. "This strategic move will not only enhance HFCL's agility but also reduce transit times by approximately six weeks, thereby enabling increase in order fulfilment capacity," it said. The establishment of the manufacturing facility in Poland will be facilitated through the incorporation of a new stepdown subsidiary in Poland under HFCL B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company in

Finolex Cables on Monday signed an agreement with the Maharashtra industries department to invest Rs 580 crore to more than double its optic fibre cables capacity to 10 million fibre km per year as 5G rollout is leading to higher demand for last mile connectivity. Finolex Cables has an existing capacity of 4 million fibre km per year which will touch 10 million fibre km per year after the commissioning of the new plant. The new plant will be solely catering to fibre optic cables, the company said in a statement. The statement did not specify where the project will come up or when the work will begin and be completed. This expansion initiative encompasses installation of fibre draw towers and the implementation of backward integration for producing glass pre-forms, crucial in the fibre drawing process. With this, Finolex Cables will be the second company in the country to manufacture glass preforms, a vital component for optical fibre production. The proposed upgrade will see the d

The proposal also requires detailed plans encompassing location, logistics, renewable energy usage, and the Chief Wildlife Warden's assessment of future impacts on wildlife management

Hathway Digital and IndusInd Media & Communications did not wish to comment on the development

Most telcos say the speed will surpass fixed broadband as the 5G roll out, which is currently on 360,000 towers, crosses 400,000

Reliance Industries-backed Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) on Monday said it has bagged a Rs 82.60 crore order from a domestic telecom service provider. In a regulatory filing, the company said it has received the order for the supply of optical fibre cable from an Indian company into telecom services, and the contract is likely to be executed by November this year. HFCL recorded a 42 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 75.56 crore in the April-June quarter of FY2023-24, up from Rs 53 crore in the year-ago period.

Reliance Jio will launch its 5G home broadband service JioAirFiber on September 19, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday, as he also outlined aggressive plans for AI terming it the "most exciting frontier of growth" for Jio. Other major takeaways from the Reliance Industries' 46th AGM included announcement of Jio True5G Lab, where technology partners and enterprise customers can develop, test, and co-create multiple industry-specific solutions; and 'Jio True5G Developer Platform', a comprehensive platform combining 5G network, edge computing, and a spectrum of applications and services. The RIL top honcho said that JioAirFiber, a fixed wireless broadband offering, uses pan-India 5G network and advanced wireless technologies to bypass the need for last-mile fibre. In other words, it's a 5G broadband service that doesn't need wires. While optical fibre can currently connect around 15,000 premises daily, JioAirFiber will supercharge the expansion with up to 150,000 connections per

The company's workforce will drop to 75,000 to 90,000 people by the fiscal year ending in March 2030 from about 130,000 currently

Industry body Assocham has requested the government to direct state transmission utilities to take necessary steps to optimise the utilisation and monetisation of their spare optical ground wire capacity. A passive optical network or optical ground wire is a dual functioning cable. Besides transportation of power, these can be used for telecommunications purposes, Assocham said, adding that various state transmission utilities presently own and operate around one lakh km of such infrastructure with "ample spare optical ground wire (OPGW) capacity". In a letter to Power Minister R K Singh, Assocham said "there is a significant opportunity to monetise unutilised passive fibre infrastructure already built... by the various state transmission utilities (STUs)." The association, in its letter, has requested for directions to STUs to take the necessary steps to optimise the utilisation and monetisation of their spare optical ground wire capacity. Monetisation of existing unutilised passi

The commerce ministry's arm DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of a certain type of optical fibres from China, Korea and Indonesia to protect the domestic industry from cheap inbound shipments. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the duty after conducting an investigation on the dumped imports of 'Dispersion Unshifted Single-mode Optical Fiber' from these countries. The product is mainly applied to high-data rate, long distance and access network transportation. Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics Pvt. Ltd, on behalf of the domestic industry, has asked for initiation of an anti-dumping investigation on this product coming from these countries. The applicant had alleged that material injury is being caused to the domestic industry due to the dumped imports and has requested for the imposition of the duties. The directorate in its findings has concluded that the domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the dumped ...

STL among the world's first companies to develop 180 micron optical fibre

The Himachal Pradesh government has signed an agreement with BSNL for laying the optical fibre cable to provide 4G coverage in unconnected (remote and far-flung) areas of the state. A spokesperson of the state government informed on Friday that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Department of Information Technology Director Mukesh Repaswal and BSNL-HP Principal General Manager Charan Singh in the presence of BSNL-HP Chief General Manager JS Sahota. This will be a step towards providing reliable and high-speed connectivity to every part of the state, especially the far-flung and remote regions of Kinnaur, Lahual & Spiti, and Pangi. The state government had proposed a project to the Centre for the provision of connectivity in the un-connected villages of the state and had received Rs 50 crore for the same. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was chosen as the executing agency for the project. Now, with the signing of the MoU, BSNL will start the process of laying down

Given the high costs of installing fibre, policies for wireless middle- and last-mile connectivity are urgently required