EoW January 2012

News Corporate

Implementing tomorrow’s technology today

ewl and Swisscom have embarked on a project to construct a comprehensive fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network by 2014. The special cables and wall outlets that are required for the installation of optical fibres in homes all come from Dätwyler. Over the past year, ewl (which stands for ’energy water Lucerne’) has been working jointly with Swisscom on a project to establish a FTTH network in the coverage area of ewl. Swisscom is responsible for laying the cables between the districts within the city, whilst ewl looks after the last mile distribution of the fibre optic cables to the individual apartments and properties. For this forward-looking project, ewl is using special fibre optic cables and wall outlets in the buildings. For the in-house wiring ewl decided to use as thin an FTTH cable as possible with a flame-retardant yellow sleeve and four fixed fibres with a maximum diameter of 0.6mm each. In terms of its design, the FTTH wall outlet needed to correspond to the existing installations and was to be as flat as possible. In addition to a window for the label, dust protection caps and connectors with laser protection, pre-fabricated pigtails, designed for shrink and crimp splice protection as well as an integrated, generously proportioned fibre tray were called for. The wall outlet was to ensure the easiest possible handling during installation. A decision was made in favour of Dätwyler because the long-standing supplier to ewl was able to provide the right FTTH products at the required quality and price. Componenta, a metal sector company with international operations and production plants located in Finland, Turkey, the Netherlands and Sweden, started statutory negotiations, as stipulated in the Finnish Act on Cooperation in Undertakings, in Componenta Finland Ltd Nisamo on 18 th October 2011. The company is planning to terminate operations of the business unit. Profitability of the machine shop located in Lempäälä, Finland has been weak for

▲ ▲ Dätwyler is supplying cables and wall outlets for the ewl/Swisscom FTTH project in Lucerne

material directly from Kablan. The specific design of the Dätwyler cables and outlets means that the installation companies can carry out rapid installation. For example, it is comparatively easy to lay the FTTH in-house cable, with an external diameter of only 2.8mm, in the riser ducts that are in most cases already occupied by other cables. By the end of 2014 all 42,500 users should be connected to the FTTH network. Dätwyler Switzerland Inc – Switzerland Fax : +41 41 875 1986 Email : info.ch@daetwyler-cables.com Website : www.daetwyler-cables.com

Another decisive factor was the company’s extensive optical fibre know-how, experience gained from other FTTH projects, and the fact that the Altdorf team had the necessary flexibility and resources available to deliver the required quantity at the desired point in time. By the summer of 2011 Dätwyler had already delivered more than 500km of FTTH in-house cable and around 12,000 outlets. In order to ensure that everything went smoothly, ewl put the whole of the logistics operation in the hands of Kablan AG, a company based in Ostermundigen, Switzerland. The products were installed by ewl’s installation partners Cablex AG and Network 41 AG, sourcing the required a long period of time and its cash flow is negative. In addition, the business unit’s order book and future outlook are weak. Negative development of production volumes has mainly been caused by changes in wind power customer segment. The statutory negotiations cover the Nisamo machine shop personnel, in total 34 people. Actions based on negotiations will be realised during the second quarter of 2012 at the latest.

Dätwyler (UK) Ltd – UK Fax : +44 2380 279 998

Email : info.uk@daetwyler-cables.com Website : www.daetwyler-cables.com

Componenta starts statutory negotiations

One-time costs of possible terminating of operations are expected to be €2.8mn. The company stated that to achieve its strategic goals of growing together with customers and being the preferred casting solutions provider for its customers, it has to have competitive, profitable operations with a corporate structure that supports them. Componenta Corporation – Finland Fax : +358 10 403 2721

Email : fi.sales@componenta.com Website : www.componenta.com

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EuroWire – January 2012