The S&V Interview

S&V: Residential fiber infrastructure has been mostly associated with build-outs for huge estate homes where fiber’s ability to send signals over longer distances without loss and its “future-proofness” are attractive, and where well-to-do clients can afford what is still a much more expensive solution than traditional Cat 6 cable. What is the cost differential (per foot) for copper vs. fiber? And when will pricing come down to levels that are affordable to an average household?
RD: Over the years we have been developing and selling our Cleerline SSF fiber, we have seen a dramatic change in the cost of fiber products and we expect that trend to continue. There are three main areas that have driven the perception that fiber should only be reserved for longer length installations and/or future proofing:

1. Cost of the installation and termination of fiber cable. This has been a thorn in the side of fiber deployment. Fiber has always a cable solution that required a skilled technician with significant training and certifications to install and terminate. The fiber was fragile, bend radius minimums had to be carefully managed, and the exposure of bare glass made the termination process very precise and in some ways dangerous. Small shards of glass laying around a home are a health hazard because the glass can penetrate soft tissue, and any exposed glass within a termination could result in the connection failing over time.

We have overcome all of these hurdles. Our fiber is significantly stronger than any copper cable solution on the market, with a minimum bend radius of the diameter of the cable or 2.5mm (0.98 inches), whichever is less, compared to Cat6's 80mm minimum bend radius, and a short term load on pulling of 225 pounds vs. 25 pounds for Category cable. Fiber is and more resilient and withstands the tortures of a general contractor more than its copper equivalents. The termination process can now be learned very quickly in under 15 minutes with simple instructional videos and on our website (Cleerlinefiber.com). This was one of the most significant barriers to adoption we have succeeded in overcoming within the home AV installation community. For larger homes the cost of running fiber vs. running Cat6a has been equalized. Lastly, our Cleerline SSF does not penetrate soft tissue so the previous dangers of working with fiber have been eliminated.

2. Tooling for termination. This cost remains higher than for Category cable tools, but we've narrowed the gap considerably. Currently we offer a basic installation tool kit for $499. We will be making this available via a consumer site at the end of 2016. The kit covers the basics for what is required to properly cleave the end of the fiber to affix the connector. These tools used to range from $1,500 to $10,000 and, even today, there are still very high end solutions for the telecommunications industries. Usually the difference in quality is centered on longevity and maintenance issues for heavy users. Our basic precision wheel cleaver (a tool necessary to properly cut the glass during installation) will have a 36,000 cleave lifespan on the scoring wheel, and the more expensive kits manage this longevity for the technician, which is helpful if you're using the tool every day.

3. Hardware costs. When we started selling Cleerline SSF fiber five years ago, the average cost per port for a 10Gps fiber network switch was $1,000. Today solutions are available for between $40 and $100 per port. That is a massive decrease in cost in a short window of time. In reality, the cost of an 8, 12, or 24 port 10Gps switch utilizing fiber instead of copper is a marginal increase over the copper solutions. The cost of proprietary HDMI media conversion is still higher than the copper equivalents, but again, that delta is shrinking considerably and then there really aren't equivalents we can compare when it comes to 4k/2k 60 Hz 4:4:4 HDR. Simply put, you can't do it over Cat6 or Cat6a without compression, so at that point it becomes “a need” not “a nice to have”, especially in homes where people might be adding a theater or want their devices remotely connected.

In studying and living this marketplace for years now, the expectation for new technology like fiber to hit its tipping point is when the price delta between legacy and emerging becomes 10 percent or less, or a need becomes apparent for the newer technology to surpass the legacy.

Cleerline believes that with SSF technology we have overcome the overarching cost hurdle of installing and terminating fiber and that within certain segments of the hardware sector we are well within the 10 percent pricing delta threshold for the market to tip.

Lastly, new technologies coming onto the market will demand not only higher bandwidth for video transmission, but more robust and built-out internal networks.

S&V: Putting aside very large homes that benefit today from a fiber infrastructure, why would the owner of an average size home want (or need) fiber? What applications would benefit most?
RD: Like the cable solutions that came before, a need had to materialize for it to become a standard, whether it was cable TV and RG59, DirecTV and RG6, or putting more of our infrastructure over Cat6; each took hold because a need arose that limited the previous generation of cable. Fiber is now doing the same. More and more data is flowing through the home creating more need for enhanced bandwidth capabilities to support wireless or video distribution. It is logical to put fiber in place if your walls are open during a renovation or if you're building a new home. We don't know where technology will take us—holographs, walls that are interactive displays, allowing you to change your home décor based on mood, or a myriad of other conveniences. Technology is evolving ever faster and being able to insure you have the infrastructure to support it seems like a prudent decision in our opinion.

If someone told you we have an awesome new cable solution that is more durable than Category cable, easier to install, has the bandwidth built into it to support 10-25 years or more of future technology, and costs only 10-15 percent more to implement, would you want the legacy solution that is currently out of date per the latest technology? Or would you opt to spend just a little more to insure you don’t have to install something else in the next one to three years?