SHERIDAN, Wyoming – September 9, 2026 – ScaleFibre today released an open, freely-available reference guide comparing the fire-safety jacket standards that govern optical fibre cable across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific markets. The guide is published as a downloadable PDF, covering NEC OFNP and OFNR ratings, EU CPR Euroclasses from Aca through Fca, and IEC LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) classifications.

Specifiers and network designers working across multiple regions often have to choose a single cable specification out of three or more independent fire-safety regimes whose tests and acceptance criteria do not translate directly between one another. The guide pulls these into one comparison framework, providing an easy to understand reference for cross-region network design.

SHERIDAN, Wyoming – August 19, 2026 – ScaleFibre has added OFNR and FT4 fire ratings to its SmartRIBBON™ Indoor/Outdoor optical cable series, qualifying the range for data centre interconnect routes in the United States and Canada.

OFNR is the riser rating required for cable run vertically between floors in the United States. FT4 is the equivalent Canadian tray and riser rating. The SmartRIBBON™ Indoor/Outdoor series now holds both.

Until now the job took two cables, one rated for the outdoor run and another for inside the building riser. SmartRIBBON™ does both, allowing a campus link to be installed with a single cable from riser spaces in one building into the next. There is no need for a transition from outside plant cable to inside plant cable.

SHERIDAN, Wyoming – August 18, 2026 – ScaleFibre has announced the launch of an OFNP plenum-rated SlimCORE™ indoor optical fibre cable line, available in fibre counts from 12F to 288F, extending the range into the air-handling spaces of North American data centres as operators build out capacity across the region.

The OFNP rating governs cable installed in plenums, the ceiling and floor voids a building circulates its air through, where the National Electrical Code requires construction that has passed the NFPA 262 flame and smoke test. The rating applies across the new line, in single-mode G.657.A1 and multimode OM3, OM4 and OM5.

For those who have heard me speak about ScaleFibre, you will know that I’ve talked a lot about the technical features and aspects of SmartRIBBON and our other optical cables. But today, I want to talk about a more pressing, physical reality facing our industry: we are running out of fibre.

What started as tightening of capacity has evolved into a sustained global shortage, without a doubt the worst I have seen. If you’ve noticed lead times stretching from weeks into months, or quotes expiring faster than you can get them approved, you’re feeling the ripple effects of a market stretched to its breaking point.

LOS ANGELES, California – March 17, 2026 – ScaleFibre, a leader in high-density optical fiber technology, has officially announced its expansion into the North American market through the incorporation of ScaleFibre USA Inc. This move marks a significant milestone in the company’s global growth strategy, providing a dedicated domestic entity to support the rapid infrastructure demands of US-based hyperscale and telecommunications providers.

The establishment of ScaleFibre USA Inc. is designed to streamline logistics, provide localized technical support, and ensure faster delivery of the company’s signature optical fibre solutions. By having a direct presence in the United States, ScaleFibre can more effectively partner with operators to solve the challenges of urban duct congestion and high-capacity data center interconnects.

LONDON, England – February 23, 2026 – ScaleFibre today announced it has replaced traditional plastic packaging for the majority of its optical fibre connectivity products with a sustainable polymer alternative. The move removes single-use petroleum-based plastics from the company’s global supply chain.

The new packaging is made from renewable organic monomers instead of fossil fuels. This change targets the massive amount of plastic waste generated during large-scale data centre builds, where thousands of fibre patch leads and assemblies are unpacked at once.

The rollout of 5G has fundamentally changed the design of wireless networks. Unlike earlier generations, 5G relies on a dense web of small cells and massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) arrays to deliver ultra-low latency and gigabit speeds. This means that there is a much greater dependency on the fibre backhaul that supports the wireless network.

For 5G to function at peak performance, the “wireless” network must be underpinned by a massive volume of “wired” infrastructure. However, as carriers rush to increase fiber counts, they are hitting a physical wall: duct congestion.

LONDON, England – February 2, 2026 – ScaleFibre has announced the launch of its SkySPAN™ ADSS (All-Dielectric Self-Supporting) optical cable series, expanding its outdoor portfolio to meet the growing demand for aerial fibre deployments in the utility and telecommunications sectors.

The SkySPAN™ range is engineered to eliminate the need for metallic messenger wires or lashing, allowing for a “single-pass” installation process that significantly reduces labour costs and pole-loading stress. Because the construction is entirely non-metallic (dielectric), SkySPAN™ can be safely installed in the “communications space” on high-voltage power poles without the risk of electrical tracking or electromagnetic interference."

While telecommunications engineering typically prioritises network capacity, bandwidth and optical loss, the physical layer’s ultimate survival depends on geotechnical stability. For network owners building multi-decade infrastructure assets, the primary threat is surprisingly not capacity. Instead, it’s the mechanical volatility of the “Active Zone”, which is the upper soil subject to intense seasonal moisture fluctuations.

When building critical network infrastructure, like backhaul routes on which any outage could be extremely impactful, it’s prudent to consider the ability of fibre optic cables to withstand soil conditions.

1. Introduction

If you’ve spent enough time around fusion splicers, you know there are two broad technologies. There are core alignment machines built for optical accuracy, the ones that use illumination and cameras to look at, and align, the actual core. Then there are the cladding alignment machines built for a lower price point, often used for less critical links like fibre-to-the-home drop cables.

TheFiberFox Mini 5C+ Premium and theFiberFox Mini 4S+ sit exactly in those two camps. On the bench they look similar, with the same general footprint, the same 4.3-inch touch screen, the same battery numbers and the same look and feel. Out in the field they behave very differently, because the way the FiberFox 5C+ Premium and the FiberFox 4S+ see fibre is built on two different technologies.

BRISBANE, Australia – December 5, 2025 – ScaleFibre has been appointed the authorised distributor for FiberFox fusion splicers in Australia, extending its product offering beyond optical fibre connectivity systems into precision fusion splicing and termination equipment.

The partnership brings FiberFox’s globally recognised splicing technology to Australian network builders, carriers, and contractors through ScaleFibre’s local channel. FiberFox systems are designed for field reliability, precision alignment, and repeatable optical performance across both single-fibre and ribbon applications, making them ideal companions to ScaleFibre’s high-performance cable and connector portfolio.

BRISBANE, Australia – November 13, 2025 – ScaleFibre has been approved as a supplier under two of Local Buy’s procurement panels, expanding access to its fibre connectivity systems across Queensland and the Northern Territory.

These appointments make ScaleFibre an approved manufacturer and supplier to Queensland and Northern Territory councils, government-owned corporations, and other eligible entities seeking compliant access to advanced optical fibre connectivity systems.

Through the Electrical & Lighting Supplies (LB299) panel, ScaleFibre provides fibre-optic cables, assemblies, and related hardware for networks across industrial and infrastructure projects. This includes ScaleFibre’s range of optical cables, which are well suited to waste treatment plants, water facilities, transport networks, and public utilities where long service life, mechanical resilience, and compliance with Australian standards are critical.

BRISBANE, Australia – October 26, 2025 – ScaleFibre has been recognised with membership in thePacific Telecommunications Council (PTC), the leading global organisation advancing telecommunications and digital infrastructure across the Pacific Rim.

The membership strengthens ScaleFibre’s position as a manufacturer committed to shaping the physical layer of the world’s digital systems. By joining PTC, ScaleFibre connects directly with the carriers, hyperscalers, policymakers, and engineers responsible for driving regional connectivity and sustainable network growth.

LONDON, United Kingdom – October 21, 2025 – ScaleFibre has establishedScaleFibre UK Ltd, marking a major step in its European expansion. The new entity enables direct import, warehousing, and distribution of ScaleFibre’s full range of optical fibre cables and connectivity systems within the United Kingdom, supporting hyperscale, telecom, industrial, and infrastructure projects across Europe’s largest data-centre market.

The London-based operation gives ScaleFibre a permanent logistics and technical base in one of the world’s most advanced connectivity hubs. Customers gain faster lead times, local support, and engineering expertise backed by a multi-continent manufacturing footprint.

BRISBANE, Australia – October 3, 2025 – ScaleFibre has expanded its optical cable portfolio with the launch of a complete suite of Mini Loose Tube cables, covering capacities from 12 fibres through to 864 fibres. The range brings industry-leading compactness to a broad set of fibre counts, giving network operators greater choice and duct efficiency in metro, access, and transport deployments.

The Mini Loose Tube range follows a consistent design philosophy across all capacities, with each build optimised for size, handling and splice compatibility. The designs use ScaleFibre’s StaticGEL™ compound in mini polymer tubes. This ensures the entire suite delivers a familiar, field-friendly experience regardless of fibre count.

High-count ribbon cables have always been a compromise. You get the density, but you pay for it in weight, stiffness and awkward handling. Ribbon cables have historically been flat ribbon, slotted core designs. These are anything but compact, with huge amounts of wasted space taking up valuable real estate.

Some of the first flexible or deformable ribbon cables also used slotted core designs, which bring all of those annoying features to a really great concept. Later designs brought in more modern designs with fibres packed into a tube, but variously these cables bundled fibres in odd ways - either wrapped in yarns or traditional style tubes. Neither is a fantastic solution. Yarns come apart and can make fibre identification difficult. Traditional tubes do not easily deform and cause the cable to take up more space than it otherwise would.

BRISBANE, Australia – September 4, 2025 – ScaleFibre has launched SmartRIBBON™, a new range of compact, ultra-high-fibre-count optical fibre cables engineered for duct and conduit installations in dense metro, transport and access environments. The range supports configurations up to 3456 fibres, offering network builders a flexible, scalable backbone for fibre-dense deployments.

The launch reflects the depth of ScaleFibre’s ongoing collaboration with leading global fibre and cable manufacturers. By working closely with specific top-tier partners, ScaleFibre is able to deliver solutions built on proven optical fibre technology while adapting to evolving deployment needs in the field.

Every optical connector has a ferrule — the precision engineered part that holds the fibre in place and aligns it with its mate. On paper, they look the same, and it can be tempting to think of them as a commodity. But like most things in optical fibre,quality matters. A few microns of concentricity error, hole diameter drift, or ovality can shift the fibre core enough to cause measurable insertion loss.

BRISBANE, Australia – August 1, 2025 – ScaleFibre has launched operations in Australia, offering a growing range of high-quality optical fibre connectivity products and a manufacturing model built for scale. The company is focused on making optical fibre products easier to source, faster to deliver, and more consistent across both small and large-scale deployments.

At launch, ScaleFibre is supplying a full portfolio of pre-terminated assemblies and connectivity components, with further expansion underway to increase manufacturing capacity and product range. Products are tested to international standards and supported with full traceability and quality reporting.

Why We Partner for Cable

We don’t own a cable plant (well, not yet, anyway). Our focus is on design, assembly, quality control and delivery. At the moment there is not a huge need for us to reinvent the wheel when the top OEMs have been doing this for decades. By leveraging their scale and expertise, we can stay lean and avoid a massive capex for extrusion and jacketing lines.

I wanted to share some photos of some of our early prototype adapters, but I think it’s important context to understandWHY we think adapters are so important.

The Adapter is One of the Most Critical Components in Fibre Optic Communications

It’s small. It’s cheap. It rarely gets discussed. And yet, when it’s wrong, it can mean the entire channel fails.

Adapters are one of the most overlooked components in fibre connectivity, right up until they’re the reason your link doesn’t pass testing. I’ve seen it too many times, low repeatability, high loss, and dust ingress over time. These often aren’t upfront catastrophic failures. They’re the kind that slowly chip away at network performance, day after day.

BRISBANE, Australia – July 1, 2025 – ScaleFibre is launching with a focus on developing regionally based fibre connectivity capability across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas, supporting the growing infrastructure needs of network operators, data centre platforms and critical service providers.

The company is led by Daniel Rose, former Managing Director of AFL’s EMEA business, and brings a deliberate approach to building technical capability closer to where fibre is deployed, covering not just manufacture, but integration, and supply in ways that match the scale and complexity of modern projects in a global environment.

Originally published in July 2025, ahead of ScaleFibre’s launch.

The Problem With Legacy

There’s a funny thing that happens in mature industries: people stop questioning how things are done. Not because everything’s working well, quite the opposite, because the system has become too large, too established, too entangled to challenge easily.

The optical fibre connectivity supply chain is a good example. For years, we saw the same pattern repeat itself. Suppliers slow to respond. Lead times that stretched out weeks beyond what anyone thought was reasonable. Quality that varied without explanation. And minimum order quantities that seemed designed more for factory convenience than project success. In short, it has become difficult to get good product, in good time, at a reasonable scale.