United States and European Fiber Optic Cable Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

United States and European Fiber Optic Cable Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The fiber optic cable market in the United States and Europe is expected to register a CAGR of 9.66%. The telecom industry had remarkable growth over the last decade. As per Sterlite Technologies Inc., the telecom industry is expected to register a CAGR of 4.95% during the forecast period. The evolution of fifth-generation networks and fiber optic infrastructure has played a key role in driving digital transformation across industries. Optic fiber cable offers better security, reliability, bandwidth, and security than copper cables. The difference between a fiber optic cable and a copper wire is that the fiber optic cable uses light pulses to transmit information down the fiber lines instead of using electronic pulses to transmit information through the copper lines.

• With growing online transactions and virtual meetings, companies need 5G and optic fiber cable to stay competitive in the market. These cables are cost-effective, convenient, and easy solutions for many industrial applications, such as lighting and decorations, data transmission, surgeries, and mechanical inspections. The growing work-from-home and hybrid work model drives the demand for FTTH across the United States and Europe.
• The surge in demand for high network bandwidth is driven by data traffic growth, specifically Internet Protocol (IP). Major service providers reported bandwidth doubling on their backbones every six to nine months. Due to increased internet traffic, bandwidth doubles every 6 to 9 months.
• The development of fiber-integrated infrastructure has significantly increased the demand for fiber-optic cables, particularly in the telecom industry. Fiber-optic networks and fiberoptic wires have also significantly increased due to broadband deployment. These architectures include FTTH, FTTP, FTTC, and FTTB.
• Significant business prospects are presented by the growing demand for connectivity in developing nations for fiber-optic producers. Yet factors such as the rise in wireless solution demand and the difficulty of installing fibreoptic cables provide several operational difficulties for the growth of the market.
• The COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown worldwide affected capital investments and industrial activities globally. Following the global economic recession led by COVID-19, the market witnessed a slow growth in 2020. All industries, including e-commerce, banking, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare, are rapidly adopting digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and analytics to stay competitive in the market.

• The telecom provider Corning revealed plans to develop Arizona's first fiber network in 2023, which is expected to serve more than 100,000 residences. As a leader in fibreoptic innovation, CommScope pushes the boundaries of high-performance fiber connectivity for the most demanding networks. Since the company also establishes industry standards, its fiber-optic cabling systems consistently exceed requirements.
• According to Ericsson, the 3.5 GHz (5G) roll-out is expected to be completed in Germany by 2025. The 3.5 GHz 5G network would cover 43% of the German population, up from 42% in 2023. However, only 7% of the geographical area in Germany is expected to be covered in 2025.
• Adtran, the US-based provider of networking and communications solutions, helps to build full-fiber networks using passive optical network technologies that supply gigabit access to businesses and homes and for infrastructure backhaul. In January 2023, the company launched its SDX 6330 10 Gbit/s combo passive optical network fiber access platform, which enables service providers to cost-effectively and rapidly connect businesses and homes with fiber-based broadband. The new solution offers the highest port density in the industry and is the first optical line terminal integrated with 400 Gbit/s uplinks.
• In December 2022, Lumen Technologies deployed Corning's optical technologies SMF-28 Ultra fiber and SMF-28 ULL fiber to advance its intercity infrastructure. Lumen upgraded more than 24,000 route miles across its US intercity network. This helped to improve network performance levels and enhance its next-generation optical platform.
• In November 2022, Arelion, a Swedish connectivity provider, announced a plan to build two high-capacity fiber optic routes between Mexico and the United States through Texas.
• The new dense wavelength division multiplexing routes will fulfill the increasing demand for high-capacity, scalable bandwidth transport and simplify access to Mexico's local markets for over-the-top providers in the United States, Asia, and Europe.
• The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is focusing on accelerating 5G solutions to help US critical infrastructure and government operators communicate securely anytime and anywhere. In September 2022, NSF partnered with the Department of Defense Office. With an investment of USD 12 million, NSF selected 16 multidisciplinary teams for the Convergence Accelerator program in 2022. These teams were selected for "Track G: Securely Operating Through 5G Infrastructure". Track G promotes technology improvement to develop 5G communications for the US federal government and military.

• Optical fiber cable (OFC) is an essential building block in the telecommunication infrastructure. Over the last decade, fiber optics have been catering to aggressive bandwidth demands, especially from telecommunication companies, and have become the preferred transmission medium.
• The explosion of data traffic from various sources, such as the internet, e-commerce, computer networks, and multimedia (voice, data, and video), has led to the need for a transmission medium capable of handling higher bandwidth to handle such vast amounts of information. Fiber-optic cables, with comparatively infinite bandwidth, have proven to be the solution.
• In telecommunication networks, fiber optic cables are used to connect different network nodes, such as cell towers, data centers, and internet service providers, allowing for the exchange of vast amounts of data between different locations. Fiber-optic cables have also allowed for the development of high-speed internet connections and other advanced communication technologies like video conferencing, online gaming, and cloud computing.
• Various benefits associated with fiber-optic cables in the context of the telecommunication industry involve high speed and bandwidth, low attenuation, immunity to electromagnetic interference, high reliability and less maintenance compared to copper cables, and difficulty to tap or intercept, thus facilitating high security.
• Moreover, owing to their security, scalability, and the unlimited bandwidth potential to handle the vast amount of backhaul traffic being generated, fiber-optic cables are also being chosen to support the bandwidth levels catering to advanced technologies like 5G, Big Data, and IoT that rely heavily on real-time data collection and transfer. The launch of 5G is expected to enhance the capacity and lower latency straight to networks.
• The internet has been one of the significantly transformative and fast-growing technologies. According to DataReportal, there were 311.3 million internet users in the United States in January 2023, and the internet penetration rate stood at 91.8% of the overall population at the beginning of 2023. Moreover, Kepios' analysis indicates that internet users in the United States increased by 1.5 million between 2022 and 2023. Likewise, as per Statista, as of January 2023, Northern Europe ranked first in the internet penetration rate, with over 97% of the population using the internet, followed by Western Europe at 93.5%. As more people get online, the demand for high-speed internet increases. This requires higher bandwidth, which can only be achieved through fiber optic cables.

The United States and European fiber optic cable market is highly fragmented, with the presence of major players like Nexans SA, Prysmian Group, Weinert Industries AG, Coherent Corporation, and Sumitomo Corporation. Players in the market are adopting strategies such as partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions to enhance their product offerings and gain sustainable competitive advantage.

• December 2022 - Weinert Industries AG acquired the assets for producing fiber-optic assemblies for specialty markets from BizLinkGroup. The acquisition enabled WEINERT to offer its Chinese customers a local sales, engineering, and manufacturing option for specialty fused silica glass and preforms, special optical fibers, customized assemblies and optical solutions, and fiber switches.
• August 2022 - Corning Incorporated announced that it is increasing optical cable manufacturing capacity in response to a long-term engagement with the nation's largest fiber internet provider as the carrier extends fiber service. Corning plans to expand its strategic investments in optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions to satisfy unprecedented demand by constructing a new cable production facility in Gilbert, Arizona, a part of the Greater Phoenix area. This project is expected to provide about 250 new jobs.

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