JANUARY 2020 EDITION 211

2020 Event Calendar inside ▶

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PAIDFiber Instrument

Sales, Inc.

Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc.

161 Clear Road, Oriskany, NY 13424

www.fiberinstrumentsales.com

Fiber Optic Solutionists

Looking Ahead in 2020By Frank Giotto, FIS President and CEO

Most of us will agree that a “changing market” best describes the fiber optic telecommunications marketplace we will experience in the upcoming year. Traditional plans for very large project deployments are yielding to much more modest size project requirements. Large fiber optic suppliers are being forced to re-evaluate their position since they are counting on these large projects for a substantial share of their revenue stream for 2020. You might be tempted to make comparison of this current situation to the completion of the United States Railroad Systems during the 19th century. Fortunately, fiber optic networks will not mimic the railroad slowdown due to their technology driven nature. Companies prepared to meet these changing needs will become our new industry leaders.

In 2019, many acquisitions and mergers occurred in our industry. Anixter International is in the process of being acquired by a private investment firm, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CDR), in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. 3M sold its communications division to Corning for $870 million. Couple these and other transactions, with less than robust sales projections from some of the industry’s leading manufacturers, and it is easy to see that we should expect a market adjustment in our industry. AT&T, Sprint and Verizon are all operating on tight budgets, while they evaluate their plans for 5G networks and the benefits they may bring versus the cost of deployment.

New opportunities can be found when a new market emerges from a maturing market. When

mega dollar contracts are scaled back, it is most often the large manufacturers who are impacted hardest. Large contracts help create affordable technical and sales field support, suggesting these staffing readjustments will happen. Low cost imports most likely will be affected since they depend on large quantity manufacturing efficiency that also helps to provide reduced container shipping costs. Recently added tariffs further hamper their efforts. These manufacturers and distributors will need to adjust their strategies.

So as the market changes, companies will need to adjust to better serve the changing marketplace. In part, a new technical support system will be forced to emerge. The winner in this new market will be the company that is agile and is able to support many average size applications versus a few large ones. Since lower quantities will be purchased, the supplier will have to be able to provide a wider selection of products in order to survive. Quick delivery from inventory, supported by good technical support and appropriate documentation will still be the customer expectation.

We are entering exciting times in 2020. Opportunities will be driven by new or revised fiber optic requirements and modified suppliers. It is impossible to predict how quickly and how deep these changes will occur. I recommend that we all pay close attention to these changes before making our important company decisions.

FIBER INSTRUMENT SALES, INC. | WWW.FIBERINSTRUMENTSALES.COM | 1–800–5000–FIS (347)

JANUARY 2020

January 6-9 • VZTUF, Austin, TX

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:January 13-14 • Miami, FL

January 15-16 • Orlando, FLJanuary 28-29 • Philadelphia, PA

FEBRUARY 2020

February 1-6 • BiOS, San Francisco, CA February 4-6 • Photonics West, San Francisco, CA

February 9-13 • BICSI Winter Conference, Tampa, FLFebruary 11 • Federal Direct Access Show,

Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS *February 13 • Federal Direct Access Show,

Barksdale AFB, Shreveport, LA *

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:February 10-11 • Dallas, TX

February 12-13 • Houston, TXFebruary 25-26 • Albany, NY

MARCH 2020

March 2-4 • TechAdvantage, Orlando, FLMarch 10-12 • OFC, San Diego, CA

March 11 • Federal Direct Access Show, Dover AFB, Dover, DE *March 12 • Federal Direct Access Show, JBMDL, Wrightstown, NJ *

March 16-19 • Data Center World, San Antonio, TXMarch 25 • Federal Direct Access Show, Hill AFB, Layton, UT *

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:March 9-10 • Atlanta, GA

March 11-12 • Charlotte, NCMarch 24-25 • Baltimore, MD

APRIL 2020

April 7-9 • TCEI Expo, Belton, TX April 7-8 • CommTech Show East, Mississauga, ON

April 18-22 • NAB, Las Vegas, NVApril 21 • Federal Direct Access Show, BFS, Parkersburg, WV *

April 21-23 • FTTH Conference, Berlin, GermanyApril 27-30 • Broadband Communities Summit, Austin, TX

MAY 2020

May 6 • Federal Direct Access Show, Fort Drum, Watertown, NY *May 7 • Federal Direct Access Show, Rome Labs/Griffiss Park, Rome, NY *

May 18-22 • UTC Telecom, Providence, RIMay 26-27 • CommTech Show West, Calgary, AB

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:May 11-12 • Chicago, ILMay 13-14 • Detroit, MI

May 26-27 • Atlantic City, NJ

JUNE 2020

June 1-3 • Fiber Connect, Orlando, FLJune 10 • Federal Direct Access Show, Joint Base Lackland,

San Antonio, TX *June 13-19 • InfoComm, Orlando, FL

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:

June 8-10 • BrightsideJune 16-17 • Nashville, TNJune 22-24 • Brightside

JULY 2020

July 29 • Federal Direct Access Show, Robins AFB, Warner-Robins, GA *

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:July 13-15 • BrightsideJuly 21-22 • Denver, COJuly 27-29 • Brightside

AUGUST 2020

August 11 • Federal Direct Access Show, Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH *

August 18-20 • ISE Expo, Denver, CO

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:August 10-12 • BrightsideAugust 24-26 • Brightside

SEPTEMBER 2020

Sept 27-Oct 1 • BICSI Fall, Las Vegas, NV

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:September 14-16 • BrightsideSeptember 21-23 • Brightside

September 29-30 • Albuquerque, NM

OCTOBER 2020

October 13-16 • STCE Cable Tec Expo , Denver, CO

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:October 5-7 • Brightside

October 20-21 • Cleveland, OH

NOVEMBER 2020

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:November 2-3 • Los Angeles, CANovember 4-5 • San Diego, CA

November 17-18 • Washington, DC

DECEMBER 2020

Fiber Optic I & II (2-Day) FISU Training:December 7-8 • Boston, MA

December 9-10 • New York City, NY

2020 INDUSTRY EVENTS

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Fiber Optic Solutionists

FIS Fiber Optic Patch Cord Sale

Visit us online to view our full library of instructional videos!

Why do standards for OTDR testing require bidirectional testing of each fiber? Shouldn’t the event attenuation be the same in both directions?

Attenuation through an event can vary when the fiber is tested in different directions. This variance is most common through a non-reflective fusion splice and is known as a “gainer”.

Sometimes when testing a fiber you will see an event on the OTDR trace that appears to gain power at the splice point. This usually occurs when two fibers with different Backscatter Coefficients are spliced together. If two fibers are spliced together and the second fiber has a higher Backscatter Coefficient than the first (going from a low backscatter to a high backscatter), more light gets scattered back after the event has occurred. The OTDR reads this increase in light level and interprets it as an increase in power and plots it as a gainer on the OTDR trace. If the same splice was measured from the opposite end (high backscatter to a low backscatter) the OTDR would interpret it as a larger than actual power loss and plot the data points to represent the high light loss. In this case the event is known as a “loser”. The true loss of this event is the average of the loser and the gainer, thus the reason for bidirectional testing. Software can be purchased with the OTDR that will merge the two files and produce a report with the averaged events.

Fiber Optic Solutionists

Equipment Calibration & MaintenanceA Good Fiber Optic Tool Makes the Difference

For more information call orvisit us online1-800-5000-FIS(347)www.fissales.com

For more information call or e-mail 1-800-5000-FIS(347)rentals@fissales.com

Fiber Optic SolutionistsWhy buy expensive equipment for occasional use when you can rent it?

Our Rental Program provides a great way to save!

Fiber Optic Equipment Rentals

AskAsk BruBrunonoVice President of

Technical Services

Additional Rental Equipment Available.

www.fissales.com

Custom and CorporateFiber optic training uniquely geared for your organization. FIS University has taught thousands of customized courses at companies and organizations around the world.

Fiber Optics I and II – Two DaysIn two consecutive days, students gain hands-on experience with the essential tools used by network installers and technicians. Classes cover fiber optic splicing, termination methods, network testing and more.

FIS University’s instructors have trained more than 20,000+ professionals world-wide in both basic and advanced techniques related to connectorization, testing and fiber optic splicing.

View the full curriculum and register online atwww.fissales.com

Additional Rental Equipment Available.www.fissales.com

Equipment that we currently calibrate and service

• OTDR’s• Fusion Splicers

• Power Meters & Light Sources• Cleavers

To read" How Do I Interpret OTDR Traces? "

visit our blog.

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∙ FUSION SPLICER RENTALS ∙ OTDR RENTALS∙ TEST EQUIPMENT RENTALS

Rental Equipment from leading manufacturers: AFL, SUMITOMO, OFS/FITEL, EXFO, FLUKE, ANRITSU and FIS

Fiber Optic Solutionists

1.800.5000.FIS(347) Outside the U.S. +1 315 736 2206

Stay compliant with industry standards by taking advantage of our full service calibration lab. All equipment is inspected, calibrated to NIST traceable standards, and verified to be in conformance with the manufacturer's specifications. All calibration services include a calibration certificate. The turn around time is typically 7-10 days upon receipt of the equipment and payment for standard services.

Inventory Blowout• In Stock (LC, SC, FC, ST styles)• Same Day Shipment• 1, 2, 3, 5, & 10 Meter Lengths• Corning Optical Fiber

Duplex LC-LCOM3 10Gig1 Meter Length$12.95 $5.00

SimplexSC APC - SC APC1 Meter Length$9.00 $3.15

Sale Pricing:

2 Million Dollar

$450.00