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ICF News | Issue 65
ICF News
The preparations for the Congress Program have been finalized by the Standing
Commission and we are certain that members will enjoy and value the
presentations given by high-ranking international experts.
Thanks to our Russian members the Congress Program will also offer the
opportunity of getting first-hand information about the Russian wire & cable
industry.
Renate and I look forward to seeing you in Moscow and wish you a safe journey.
Thomas Neesen
I.C.F Secretary-General
P.O.BOX 26
Graben 30
A-1014 Wien
Austria
Phone +43-1-532 96 40
Fax +43-1-532 97 69
Web www.icf.at
Contact renate@icf.at
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ICF News | Issue 65
The International
Copper Association
and its Activities Provided by ICA
around the world partner with the ICA 2010 appliance penetration rate of 8% per annum; safety reduction based on current
Network, globally or locally with knowl- studies [FEEDS; Libro Azul; ECI Omnibus across 10 countries] giving a level of 33%
homes have no or insignificant electrical safety issues
edge and expertise, and co-funding of
Sources: ECI - AENOR
joint projects.
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ICF News | Issue 65
The greater the demand, the greater the to subsidize inspection and renovation rewiring of older dwellings and embraces
risk of personal injury and damaged prop- has been effectively achieved in Spain, the whole supply chain, including electric
erty from electrical fires. The partnership where a partnership between consumer utilities, electrical product manufactur-
between cablemakers, electrical contrac- organizations and electrical contractors ers, insurance companies, dealers, bro-
tors and national consumer groups has reaches half the population. kers and consumer associations.
successfully persuaded home owners
to inspect and renovate their electrical Issues to be addressed are political, A website and newsletter in Portuguese
systems as illustrated by joint ECI-led statistical and attitudinal: it is challeng- and Spanish (www.programacasas-
or stimulated campaigns in a number of ing to persuade politicians to pursue egura.org) provide guidance on how to
European Union (EU) States, where the a path that requires voters to invest in inspect installations and hire a profes-
growth in safety renovation has gone from preemptive measures; the statistical sional to rewire it, and information on
under 1% of homes to over 4% since base does not reflect the reality of the safety and energy efficiency.
the early 2000’ – although two-thirds of extent of fires caused by ageing installa-
homes require such renovation. Given that tions; attitudes among users vary greatly As a result, five large cities (Buenos
the demand for energy-efficient and auto- depending on country and market sub- Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Santiago and
mated installations is strengthening, and segment. Sadly, the same mechanisms Sao Paulo) have adopted inspections of
that there is expanded use of entertain- are not universally in place as found for older buildings. The results show that
ment, home office and telemedicine, only gas installations and for private vehicle between 15 and 20% of inspections
a reliable and up–to-date electrical system safety testing. But, these challenges are led to rewiring. Due to this encouraging
can ensure these function effectively. by no means insurmountable. result, ICA plans to invite more stake-
ECI continues to build partnerships to holders and cities to support the Safe
A two-pronged strategy has been suc- expand the scope of residential electrical House Program.
cessfully adopted to strengthen reno- installation renovation. As homes built
vation, which also represents potential before 1970 account for over half the 2.1.3 Asia
growth for the W&C market. At national homes in the EU, the market potential is Countries like Japan and the Republic
and EU levels, government lobbying cre- clearly significant. of Korea have developed national peri-
ates understanding of societal benefits odic home inspection schemes since
from improving safety. This is achieved 2.1.2 Latin America the early 1960’s and are seen as practi-
through having regulations changed and A similar “Safe House Program” (Progra- cal examples for other Asian markets.
statutes passed (as in France, Belgium, ma Casa Segura) has been run in Latin In India, wiring practices in residential
Italy and the UK), and through actively America since 2005, to raise the aware- construction vary widely from the elec-
involving organizations that represent ness of home owners and building man- trical codes due to weak enforcement,
the interests of key stake-holders (cable- agers about the need for improvements untrained installers and the presence of
makers, consumers, electrical contrac- in the quality of electrical installations. a many small (unorganized) cablemakers
tors). Stimulating local governments The program encourages inspection and with inadequate quality standards. This
situation raises serious safety issues:
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ICF News | Issue 65
• Upgrade wiring specifications of European Copper Institute (ECI), to The campaign delivers handbooks,
relevant government departments provide design engineers, end-users easy- to-use investment datasheets and
at national and regional levels (e.g., maintenance professionals) and education material, as well as e-learning
• Upgrade the training syllabus for business decision-makers with knowl- modules that help understand issues
new electricians edge and best practices to improve and solutions. The campaign has grown
• Promote safe wiring practices with PQ in the non-residential sector. The into a partnership of 100 authorities in
architects, builders and building scope of the program has since been the PQ field, from academic and poly-
consultants broadened to raise awareness among technic institutions to engineering com-
• Training and certification of electri- policy makers. A survey in 2007 deter- panies. It published a library of applica-
cal contractors and electricians mined that the annual cost of poor tion notes, articles, case studies, white
PQ for EU-25 countries’ industry and papers, eBooks and e-learning modules
During 2008, training programs reached services exceeded € 150 billion, with and webinars. Overall, LPQI reaches
over 25 000 contractors and electricians a very high average cost per unique 100,000 professionals each year across
across 23 States. In addition, the project event. the world.
enabled W&C partners to differentiate
themselves from the unorganized sec-
tor by providing a neutral platform. This
Figure 5: Average costs of a PQ event in Europe
generated sales and led to the launching
of new products. Power quality event Average costs
Surge or transient 120 000 – 180 000 Euro
Long interruption 90 000 Euro
Short interruption, service sector 18 000 – 36 000 Euro
Voltage dip 2000 – 4000 Euro
Investment in solutions for the sectors The campaign is now developing a com-
surveyed is an EU-25 equivalent of about munication portfolio with multiple chan-
€50 billion annually. This survey showed nels in actively promoting its existing
Figure 4: ICA partners displaying that although poor PQ is mainly caused content database, to:
their products at the seminar venue. by the end users’ own installation, they
tend to blame external causes for the • increase the awareness of decision
events experienced. makers (CEO level)
2.2 Power Quality in commercial • inform frontline end-users about the
buildings and industry In order to solve PQ issues, end users need of PQ measurement
need to be aware of measurement and • ensure design engineers have easy-
The ICA runs Power Quality (PQ) monitoring techniques, to be able to to-use reference documents
programs in Asia, Europe, Latin and identify PQ phenomena, to be informed • help business professionals involved
North America. In Europe, the Leon- about solutions and state-of-the-art in the mitigating equipment purchase
ardo ENERGY Power Quality Initia- designs, and to be able to develop a process to choose the best solution
tive (LPQI) campaign was created in financing strategy and selection of the and invest wisely to decrease the cost
2001 by ICA’s European arm, the most efficient actions. impact of poor PQ.
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ICF News | Issue 65
Implications for Wire & Cable ing the chance for interaction between Double-size Neutrals or Separate
As a content marketing initiative directly equipment. This technique creates the Neutrals per Phase
targeting professionals, PQ campaigns need for additional circuits. Harmonics can be easily handled by
deliver useful and segmented informa- using double-size neutrals (alternatively,
tion about: Grounding Conductor separate neutrals can be used for each
A separate, full-size copper ground- phase conductor).
• D e-rating of equipment including ing conductor is essential to assure a
cabling continuous, low-impedance path to W&C manufacturers who partner within
• R edundant wiring ground. Europe’s LPQI (see http://www.leonar-
• N eutral sizing, separating neutral do-energy.org/partners) are involved in
and earth Voltage Drop various actions such as
• W ire upsizing for lower imped- Although Electric codes allow for up
ance to a 3 to 4% voltage drop in a gen- • Joint projects, like the PQ survey,
eral branch circuit, the recommended design practice assessment, policy
Some techniques that influence use of practice is to design for no more than a report and benchmarking
W&C are: 1% voltage drop at full load on branch • Production of educational materials
circuits feeding sensitive equipment. • Webinars
Separation of Sensitive Feeder voltage drop should not exceed • Outreach & Promotion
Electronic Loads from Other 2%. That means conductor sizes should
Equipment often be larger than required than code They benefit from extensive coverage,
Standard and sensitive loads must not minimum. either through the website or through
be mixed on the same circuitry (or panel its chapters in many regions.
boards, if at all possible). A dedicated Isolated Grounds (IG)
“computer” circuit in each office is Isolated grounding, or earthing, is a Cable manufacturers who joined the
recommended which means separate technique that attempts to reduce the initiative appreciate positioning them-
phase wires, a separate neutral and a chances of “noise” entering sensitive selves as solutions providers for a
separate grounding conductor (possi- equipment through the grounding promising and growing market, and
bly an isolated ground, too), all run in conductor. A separate conductor is to be a part of a community which
a separate metal conduit back to the run to the panel board with the rest builds the vision of future energy sys-
source. of the circuit conductors, but is usu- tems. They are also put in direct con-
ally insulated from the enclosure and tact with the biggest worldwide audi-
Limited Number of Outlets per run all the way through to the ground ence of concerned sustainable energy
Circuit bus of the service equipment (or the professionals who are eager to find
A maximum of three to six outlets per ground connection of a separately a solution during ad-hoc interactive
circuit is recommended, thus minimiz- derived system). events.
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ICF News | Issue 65
2.3 Building Energy Management for low-voltage applications is governed (IEC) standard by 2012, and to have the
by thermal and electro-magnetic con- new JCS become mandatory in Japan
Building energy use is estimated at 32% siderations. However, in the context of by 2014.
of total final energy use globally. Lighting, energy efficiency, the selection of higher
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, cross-sections can result in lower energy JCDA and JCMA partner on this project.
elevators, water supply, drainage, appli- losses. JCMA is responsible for operations, and
ances’ power supply and emergency is a liaison with research organizations
power are the main energy consum- The Japanese arm of ICA, the Japan and other industries.
ers in buildings. Building automation Copper Development Association
systems can monitor and control the (JCDA) has been working together with 2.4.2 Energy Efficient Equipment
operation of these systems and thereby the Japan Cable Manufacturers Asso- Although energy-efficient products are
reduce energy waste and maintenance ciation (JCMA) since 2007 to develop economically profitable during their life-
costs, with the added benefit of increas- new standards for cable selection to cycle, consumers (individual, institutional
ing service life. For the W&C industry, be called Japan Cable Standards (JCS) or commercial) often buy products that
the use of building automation systems based on environmental and economic are not efficient because they often make
means more sensors and, therefore, considerations, in addition to conven- decisions based on least expensive first
more communication wires. tional electrical considerations. cost. The challenge is to educate them,
and to create supportive policies, stand-
Major barriers for adoption of building The energy-saving theory is robust and ards and incentive mechanisms.
energy management in new construction needs to be substantiated by field trials,
are the absence of mandatory energy which began in 2008 and are expected To give an example, electric motors
conservation codes, higher initial invest- to be completed by 2010. A cross- consume 40% of all global electric-
ments, and the divergence of interests industry task-force was established with ity according the International Energy
between developers (who invest) and constructors, designers, users, govern- Agency (IEA).
users (who benefit). At the same time, ment officials, and the Institute of Elec-
there are hundreds of thousands of exist- trical Installation Engineers in order to Because motors typically consume
ing commercial buildings with unreason-
1carry out a feasibility study. The aim is to 10-25 times their purchase price in elec-
ably high levels of energy consumption, establish, by 2010, the new JCS defin- tricity each year, even small increases in
ICA programs in China and India, for ing increased cable sizes, to propose a efficiency add up to large energy savings
example, work with governments to cre- new International Electrical Committee and make premium efficiency motors a
ate mandatory energy codes for build-
ings, and to create awareness among
developers, users and stakeholders.
Figure 8: Motors consume 40 % of all
2.4 Electrical power distribution electricity
and use
Resistance Heating: SH & DHW
Energy security and climate change are
destined to become dominant themes in Electronics: OE & CE Vehicles: Trains
the 21st century.
Household Appliances Electro Chaemical
Energy efficient electrical equipment
reduces energy consumption, which is Miscellaneous
an economic benefit, and also reduces
the consumption of fossil fuels and emis- 8 Lightning
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ICF News | Issue 65
cost-effective upgrade. For example, in ket transformation programs aimed at for W&C. ICA worked on developing this
the USA, NEMA Premium motors are inducing lasting structural and behavio- market together with development insti-
typically constructed with superior mate- ral changes in the marketplace, resulting tutions, utilities, equipment manufactur-
rials, more copper magnet wire and with in increased adoption of energy-efficient ers, W&C suppliers and other partners.
tighter tolerances. products and appliances, building wires
and power cables. 3.1.1 Brazil
Another example is Distribution Trans- In Brazil, 52 million people or 29% of the
formers (DT). To transmit electricity These programs are aimed at a variety of population live in favelas. The favela of
efficiently, it must be “stepped up” to audiences ranging from utilities to indus- Paraisopolis in Sao Paulo was chosen
high voltages. After transmission, it is tries, as well as the general public. ICA as a pilot project site. It contains 20,000
“stepped down” to lower voltages for conducts training programs to build the households of which 4,365 homes and
use in factories, buildings and homes. capacity of energy efficiency advocates businesses were selected for the pilot.
These voltage changes are made by and works with policymakers in various Service quality was very poor. Almost
transformers, which, in simplistic terms, countries to raise and globally harmonize all had illegal, unpaid connections and
contain two or more coils of wire wound minimum efficiency performance stand- were exposed to dangerous distribution
around a laminated core of magnetically ards (MEPS) to levels that reflect the best and building wiring conditions. All con-
permeable material. They are installed by available economic level of technology. sumed high amounts of electricity. The
the utility or by large end-users such as Finally, ICA works towards the creation project took place in 2006-07 and was
factories and commercial buildings. of incentive mechanisms, such as pro- conducted and funded by a team that
DTs can be upgraded to higher efficien- grammatic Carbon Development Mech- included AES Electropaulo (local electric
cy by increasing the mass of winding anism (CDM), to improve the penetration utility), the U.S. Agency for International
wire and, where space is limited, substi- of energy efficient products. Development (USAID), ICA and ICA &
tute aluminum for more conductive cop- ICF member Nexans, along with other
per to reduce the load losses. Because ICA invests millions of dollars annu- Brazilian industry and appliance part-
DTs are so widely used and have long ally in such programs. Several countries ners.
life spans (30 years on average), even introduced minimum standards and the The project serves as a model to bring
small improvements in efficiency result ICA Network remains proactive in mak- innovative, socially responsible and cost-
in large energy savings. Studies estimate ing the case for mandatory standards, effective approaches to expanding and/
potential savings of 200TWh (200 terra- advocating the positive economic and or improving access to the safe, reliable,
watt hours) globally, equivalent to the environmental impact. As an example, and energy-efficient supply and use of
electricity consumption of the Benelux the ICA’s U.S. center, the Copper Devel- electricity, especially in mega-cities.
countries. opment Association, joined the National Analysis concluded that actions and
Electrical Manufacturers Association and investments yield very attractive results.
many other organizations to convince The affordability of electricity improved
the U.S. Congress to mandate NEMA substantially due to reduction of energy
Premium 3-phase industrial motors as losses by installing energy efficient appli-
MEPS by the end of 2010. The resulting ances and lighting, re-wiring of homes
increase per motor in copper magnet and other measures. People in the com-
wire ranges from an average 20% to as munity acquired a sense of citizenship.
much as 100%, depending on design
and model.
Figure 10: Urban favela in Sao Paolo
In a first step, AES Eletropaulo worked
3. Programs to with community leaders on the scope
and scale of the project. Meetings were
STIMULATE LATENT held with the community to educate
W&C markets about the program. Door-to-door visits
were held by community “agents”. Con-
Figure 9: Distribution Transformer 3.1 Urban Slum Electrification nections were identified, registered and
numbered.
One billion people, growing at a reported Mini-audits and a customer satisfaction
ICA’s Energy Efficiency programs rate of 5% per year, live in poor urban survey were conducted. The distribu-
ICA’s commitment to Energy Efficiency is areas, typically called slums, throughout tion network was upgraded and con-
evidenced by a robust Sustainable Elec- the emerging and developing countries. nections metered. Households were
trical Energy (SEE) initiative, with mar- This represents a huge but latent market not charged a connection fee and any
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ICF News | Issue 65
Cover
Insulation
Concentric phase-conductor
Insulation
page 9
ICF News | Issue 65
3.1.2 Africa of individual meters of other clients, Donor and national electrical safety
In Dakar, Senegal, the main focus is whose houses are situated often a sig- agencies, cable makers and electri-
on replicating and adapting the Brazil nificant distance away from the meters. cal utilities plan to replicate the model
model. Frequently, the final distribution to be developed in Dakar throughout
is a connection known to the utility but The problems are multiple. People and Sénégal, and thereafter to the rest of
installed by the local population, up to 1 animals risk electric shocks, especially in the region.
km away from the last utility pylon. the rainy season when bare, “recycled”
wires are in contact with the wet sand; 3.2 Rural Electrification
This distribution cable enters a utility cli- reduction in voltage often means that
ent’s home and is connected to a series refrigeration cannot work reliably and One quarter of the global population (1.6
billion people) does not have access to
electricity. Over 80 % live in rural areas
of the developing world. The lack of elec-
tricity deprives people of basic necessi-
ties such as lighting and communication,
and limits economic activity, education
and development.
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ICF News | Issue 65
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ICF News | Issue 65
DE can be a practical solution and than found in centralized generation. 4. Programs aimed
economically attractive from high- Therefore, the uptake of DE benefits
tech factories to remote and impov- W&C and copper. A three-pronged
at MARKETS THAT
erished villages. strategy promotes DE solutions: DO NOT CURRENTLY
advocacy of policy changes, collab- USE volumes of
Compared to conventional central- oration with equipment manufactur-
ized power generation, DE is yet to ers, and education of end-users.
COPPER
be developed in the global context.
Currently, the global market share of Examples: 4.1 Underground transmission
CHP is about 9% and the develop-
ment is not balanced across coun- • ICA China works with stakehold- Underground cables have unique
tries (fig. 19). There are only a few ers to develop policy incentives properties for transmitting power: they
countries with over 20% of CHP in for CHP and works with Small are out of sight, often require only a
their total power generation portfo- Wind Turbine (SWT) manufactur- narrow band of land to install, emit no
lio. ers to promote wind energy for electric field and can be engineered to
the telecommunication industry. emit no magnetic fields, have better
The financial barrier is one of the major • ICA supports a Bangladeshi power loss characteristics, and can
one for DE, especially for renewable inventor-entrepreneur with the absorb emergency power loads. As a
energy. Policy barriers include gov- development of efficient small result, underground cables assist the
ernment ones that do not incentivize biomass based engines for rural transmission of power across:
DE and, for example, restrict trading electrification, crucial as 97% of
of surplus electricity and connection the rural population of 100 million • D ensely populated urban areas
to the public power grid. Market bar- has no reliable access to electric- • A reas where land is unavailable
riers include limited awareness of ity. or planning consent is difficult
technologies and finance options. • O nline information (e.g. www. • R ivers and other natural obsta-
Leonardo-energy.org) provides cles
Winding wire, power and communi- market intelligence, contacts and • L and with outstanding natural or
cation cables are widely used in DE opportunities for governments environmental heritage
with a much higher density per MW and general public. • A reas of significant or prestigious
infrastructural development
• L and whose value must be main-
tained for future urban expansion
Figure 17: Combined Heat & Power (CHP) share
and rural development
in national power generation
In the past, the higher cost of under-
60%
grounding and the absence of reliabil-
ity data were significant deterrents.
50% Lower-cost production, improved
Average: 9% (330 Gwe)
technologies and increased reliabil-
40% ity have narrowed the cost differential
with overhead lines. The opportunity
30% costs from lengthy planning delays are
reduced and expense and complexity
of legal cases are minimized.
20%
17 17
Underground power cables also offer
10% lower maintenance costs. They are
less susceptible to weather-related
0% issues, such as storm damage, inter-
ruptions, costs of storm damage
Brazil
Mexico
Japan
France
Canada
Sweden
UK
Spain
USA
Italy
Germany
China
Austria
Czech Rep.
Poland
Hungary
Netherlands
Latvia
Russia
Finland
Denmark
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ICF News | Issue 65
By targeting locations problematic • Lower lifetime costs in most There are basically three types of sheaths
for overhead transmission lines at cases for cables: extruded with lead, lead alloy
the planning stage and by proposing • Fewer disruptions or aluminum; foil laminate with aluminum
partial underground cable solutions, • Reduced potential for cable theft or copper; and welded with copper, alu-
developers can: • More flexibility in route location minum or stainless steel. For sub-sea
• Improved real estate values applications, the established type is lead
• Gain support from stakeholders for all paper-insulated cable types. The
who would otherwise oppose In South East Asia and China, ICA designs of extruded XLPE and EPR insu-
transmission projects has been working with policy mak- lated cables without a metal sheath are
• Reduce or eliminate planning ers, utilities and standards institutions being installed at system voltages up to
delays to promote undergrounding, through 33kV. Above 33 kV, cables with lead are
• Leverage the potentially knowledge dissemination, capacity the preferred option. The use of cop-
improved lifecycle cost of under- building and best practice sharing. per sheathing to date has been minimal.
grounding However, there is a significant growth
• Demonstrate to investors that 4.3 Sub-sea power cables potential for copper sheathed cables
business risk from emerging because copper:
environmental and corporate Sub-sea power cables are used for
social responsibility drivers is inter-country or island connection • Offers a reduced cost and lighter
being managed effectively of power grids, as well as offshore alternative to lead for short to
wind farms. The market has been medium sub-sea links embedded in
ICA, through the European Copper growing due to the demand for more the sea bed
Institute (ECI), has been working inter-links, which can enhance the • Serves as a fall-back to lead,
with Europacable and other stake- reliability and stability of the macro- should this material become com-
holders to deliver advocacy towards grid, and due to demand for off- mercially unavailable or environ-
local and national authorities on the shore wind farms. Reports claim mentally prohibited
business case for partial under- that all projects in the next four years
grounding. total 111 for inter-link and 173 for
wind farms, respectively, with cable
4.2 Underground cabling in lengths of about 70,000 and 45,000 5. Programs aimed
the urban power distribution km, respectively.
system at defense
There is usually a metal sheath sur-
Overhead lines and underground rounding a sub-sea cable which per- 5.1 Energy efficient Ethernet /
cables have both been used for low- forms two purposes: Power over Ethernet/ Copper
and medium-voltage power distribu- LAN interface beyond 10G
tion in cities since electricity distribu- • To exclude water from internal
tion systems were first constructed. components, in particular the Interconnection speeds between
primary insulation. Where water networked computers continue to
While overhead is lower in upfront comes into contact with highly increase exponentially, with each new
costs, disadvantages are: electrically stressed insulation generation of connection interfaces
materials, it will lead to deterio- emerging about every six years. Eth-
• Poor visual impact ration of the insulating proper- ernet, or IEEE 802.3, is in most cases
• Line outages due to tree con- ties and electrical failure of the the dominant connection standard.
tact, particularly during storms insulation. About eight years ago, 100 megab-
• Regular need for tree trimming • To conduct charging and short its-per-second (100M) Ethernet was
• Public safety concerns when circuit currents. Charging cur- the technology in data centers and
conductors break due to tree or rents arise from capacitive loss- Local Area Networks (LANs). Today,
branch falling es in the insulation, which are 1 gigabit-per-second (1G) dominates,
• Fires caused by contact with substantial for the long length with 10G beginning to emerge. In the
conductors of sub-sea cables. Short circuit future, 40G and eventually 100G will
• Electro-magnetic interference currents of high-magnitude become benchmark connection tech-
arise either due to faults from nologies. As interconnection speeds
In comparison, underground cables other components of the electric between computers increase, so does
overcome these disadvantages and power system or from a fault in the threat of substitution of copper
for example, additionally offer: the cable itself. cables with fiber optic.
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ICF News | Issue 65
To combat this substitution threat, A product roadmap leading to 100G provided cablemakers with an upgrade
copper data cable makers need a demonstrates copper cables are resist- path that will enable them to preserve
simple, high-speed copper interface ant to obsolescence and provides cable- their investment in copper data cable
that is compatible with existing Ether- makers the ability to defend a market of production, and provides end users
net standards. Working with member nearly 10 million kilometers (and grow- with better performance from the same
companies, ICA funds basic research ing) of data cable, or an annual market familiar connection medium they have
to determine the practical data capac- of over 150,000 tonnes of copper. been using for years.
ity of copper data cables. At the same
time, ICA has supported efforts within In addition, copper data cables offer the The success of ICA and the W&C
international standards bodies to estab- ability for enhanced energy efficiency industry efforts can be illustrated with
lish copper-based interface standards, and to provide power directly to net- a timely anecdote. In the current eco-
which computer equipment makers can work devices where it is too expensive nomic environment, where most cable
use to design successive generations of or otherwise impractical to provide shipments are down by 15 to 20% or
servers, switches, and routers. power with conventional utility wires. more, sales of premium, high-perform-
ance copper data cable continues to
While fiber optic cable is often advanta- ICA, collaborating with cable mak- hold up and even grow—a testament
geous in long data connections (gen- ers, connector suppliers, network to the real value provided by copper
erally those of 100m or more), for the equipment makers and fabricators of data cables to the information technol-
vast majority of data center and LAN communications microchips, has suc- ogy industry.
connections, conventional twisted-pair cessfully worked with international
copper cables not only have the capac- standards bodies to create low-cost, 5.2 Structured wiring
ity to compete favorably with optical energy-efficient data connections and
fiber, but can continue to provide reli- standards, including the ability to pro- Smart Wiring™ was initiated by ICA’s
able connections at speeds of up to vide power to small devices at the edg- Copper Development Centre (CDC) in
100G at low cost. According to industry es of the network. This collaborative Australia nine years ago and has dem-
data and at current rates of technology research has provided mutual benefits onstrated the long-term value of com-
development, 100G connections will along the entire supply chain: it has mercially oriented, technology- driven
support the needs of data centers for preserved a significant market for pro- initiatives.
at least 10-15 more years. ducers of oxygen-free copper wire rod,
A group of key stakeholders drawn from
the electrical, cabling, home automa-
tion and public sectors worked together
Figure 18: Ethernet servers by connection
under the leadership of CDC to develop
speed (millions) the industry-guaranteed, technology-
16 independent cabling format that defined
Smart Wiring™.
14
In essence, Smart Wiring™ provides
12 data, telephony, and television services,
and is based on the use of high-speed
10
copper cables – like Coaxial and Cat
5 or 6 wired in a star pattern. It offers
8
options like home networking, security
6 and entertainment.
17
4 This approach proved highly success-
ful, and a survey of 900 of Australia’s
2 biggest builders last year showed that
Smart Wiring™ was used in over a third
0 of all new homes and major renovations
– four times the uptake compared with
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
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ICF News | Issue 65
6. Conclusion
page 15
ICF presents ICA