Optical Fiber market to reach $290.8 mn by 2018 in India

Optical Fiber Cables (OFC) market is posed to be a USD 290.8 million market by 2018 as the data deluge and government initiatives is propelling growth. The overall market is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5 percent between 2011 and 2018, anticipates a market research firm, Frost & Sullivan.

The key enablers for OFC deployment in India include deployment of next-generation broadband technologies, rise in OFC deployments in backhaul and last-mile connectivity, availability of low-cost smartphones and tablet PCs, proliferation of high-bandwidth devices, and rollout of the National Optical Fiber Network, said Frost and Sullivan.

Th research has also pointed out the key challenges in OFC deployment viz high total cost of ownership, high cost of optical fibre, right of way issues, limited availability and legacy versus NGN technologies.

OFC would beat competing technologies such as copper and microwave in the long term as it has the advantages of unlimited capacity, high degree of security, and long-term economic gains.