Prysmian Group, a world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, played a leading role at the Broadband MEA Conference held in Dubai in late March. The theme of the conference was “Driving Sustainable Broadband Growth in the MEA Region” and Prysmian supported this message by presenting its upgraded xsNet - access network - product portfolio to the local marketplace.

xsNet addresses the passive access network and provides tailor-made solutions for all parts of the network – indoor, outside and POP applications. The building blocks of xsNet make it possible to include a number of familiar products which have already proven themselves to be highly reliable solutions with established track records. These include Sirocco XS (blown fibre), VertiCasa XS (MDU cabling system) and the recently launched VerTV XS (optical satellite solution) – all former Prysmian developments. From the Draka side have come the blown cable families including JetNet XS and EaseNet XS, with the whole system portfolio underpinned by a suite of leading in-house fibre technologies led by BendBright XS, the bend insensitive fibre developed specifically for last mile applications in compliance with G657 A2/B2 requirements.

Several other products, including Ultra Low loss fibres for long haul applications, completed the overall system which can be further supported by network design services provided also by Prysmian Group. The result is an optimised system which puts Prysmian Group at the global forefront of passive optical technology within the FTTx environment, Prysmian said.

Gert Hoefman, vice president of Telecom Solutions at Prysmian Group, said the conference was a great opportunity for Prysmian to show its credentials as the new Prysmian Group. “As a combined company (Prysmian and Draka), with our collective knowledge and cohesive message, we have become the leading global player in the energy and telecom cable industry. The integration process is proceeding quickly and the group has already presented its new organisational model, brand strategy and product range for both our businesses.”

Dubai was an ideal location for the event with the UAE being one of the leading FTTx territories in the whole of the MEA region. Prysmian has a long history of supply of optical cable to several of the major operators in the Emirates and is committed to supporting the current ongoing roll-out of optical fibre in the local access networks. Prysmian Group has its regional headquarters in Dubai and local commercial director Juliano Demello was present at the event together with colleagues from the Amman, Jordan regional office. Furthermore Prysmian presented a paper at the conference looking at the new services available over fibre together with the methods used for the effective deployment of fibre-based systems.

Prysmian was a Gold Sponsor of the event which took take place at The Westin Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina.

With sales of some €8 billion ($10.6 billion) in 2011, about 22,000 employees across 50 countries and 97 plants, the group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and provides the widest range of products, services, technologies and know-how. In the energy sector, Prysmian Group operates in the business of underground and submarine power transmission cables and systems, special cables for applications in many different industrial sectors and medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure industry. In the telecom sector, it manufactures cables and accessories for the voice, video and data transmission industry, offering a complete range of optical fibres, optical and copper cables and connectivity systems. Prysmian is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the Blue Chip index.