APWC produces a wide range of bundled telecommunications cable for telephone and data transmissions with different capacities and insulation designed for use in various internal and external environments principally as access cable to connect buildings and residents to trunk cables. Telecommunications cables conTain twisted pairs of insulated copper wire, each pair color-coded and corresponding to one telecommunications line.
The Company's telecommunications cables are produced with different insulators such as polyethylene("PE"), polyvinyl chloride("PVC") and foam skin, suitable for different installations and environmental conditions. The Company manufactures telecommunications cable with capacities and sizes ranging from 25 to 3,000 pairs of 0.4 mm-diameter wire to 10 to 600 pairs of 0.9 mm-diameter wire.
Production of telecommunications cable begins by drawing a copper rod until it has reached the desired diameter, after which the drawn wires are subjected to a process called "annealing" in which the wires are heated in order to make the wires softer and more pliable. Utilizing an extrusion process, which involves the feeding, melting and pumping of a compound through a die to shape it in final form as it is applied to insulate the wire, the wires are then covered by a PE or PVC compound in one of ten standard colors.
In order to reduce the cross-talk between pairs of communication wires, the insulated wires are then "twinned" or twisted so that two insulated single wires are combined to create a color-coded twisted pair. The twisted pairs of wire are then "cabled" or "stranded" into units of 25 twisted pairs for combination with other 25 pair units to form cable of various widths and capacities. The appropriate number of units are cabled together after stranding to form a round cable core. Depending upon the planned environment, a petroleum jelly compound may then be added to fill the cable core to seal out moisture and water vapor. Aluminum or copper tape is used to "sheath" the cable and, finally, the sheathed cable core is covered by plastic outer coating. |
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