Krone brings high bandwidth on copper

Krone Communications, a network cable and connectivity supplier providing solutions for voice and data communication applications, has launched their 10 gigabit UTP (unshielded) copper cabling system, CopperTen.

"This is the world's first 10 gigabit unshielded copper cabling system. Our competitors who have been speaking about 10 gigabit have it only on fibre or as shielded solutions," said Tim Takala, director (support technologies) of ADC and Krone.

It may be remembered that ADC, a supplier of network equipment, software solutions and integration service provider, acquired the Krone Group in May 2004.

The acquisition is valued at approximately $350 million in which ADC paid a net cash of approximately $294 million and assumed certain defined liabilities consisting principally of Krone's pension obligation for its German workforce.

"In the US, 99 per cent of all installations are UTP or unshielded. That's because it is a much cheaper solution than CAT 7 shielded solutions. As far as security goes though, UTP is the easiest to tap among unshielded, shielded and optic fibre solutions," said Takala. He added that the active components or copper transceivers though will be available only in 2006.

When asked about the Indian market, Bala K Chandran, managing director, Krone Communications India said, "This is an enterprise product. Considering that active components will be available only in 2006, we will target companies setting up new operations or expanding in a big fashion. This would include ITeS/BPO and educational institutions. Another target is government agencies. We are seeing a lot of aggregation among state LANs and thus that holds possibility for us."

Krone India closed last fiscal with nearly Rs 60 crore in revenues of which Rs 15 crore was contributed by PremisNet, Krone's range of enterprise cabling solutions in India, while the rest came from AccessNet, their telecom solutions.

The company is estimated to hold 30 per cent of the structured cabling market in the country.