Cape Town, 11 Mar 2016
On the back of 15 years of exporting its world class FTTX products globally, SA-based Tank Industries, a Division of ATC (Referred to as Tank Industries), is now stepping up its focus on its home ground.
Tank Industries General Manager Clive Maasch explains that the company has a 25-year track record of producing ISO 9001 certified cable accessories for use in telecoms networks. Its move into high quality fibre to the home accessories began 15 years ago, when it began supplying cabling products to the global market via Swiss-based R&M.
In 2012, the company was acquired by the Reunert Group. Falling under Reunert's electrical power cable manufacturer CBI-electric: african cables, Tank Industries contributes to the group's ability to deliver a range of world standard cables and telecoms accessories. "To our knowledge Tank Industries is one of the only manufacturers of this this type of FTTX product in South Africa," says Maasch.
Thanks to the landing of high-speed undersea cables and a significant swing to fibre to the home across South Africa, Tank Industries is now turning its focus to home ground too. "Our FTTX product range is currently employed by all the major telcos in South Africa, including the largest metro fibre rollout in the Western Cape and more recently in some for the largest FTTH roll-outs in Johannesburg Central and surrounds," he says.
Maasch explains that Tank Industries' FTTX products such as fibre optic splice closures, fibre optic connectors, distribution cabinets and indoor and outdoor termination boxes are manufactured at its factory in Cape Town, using moulding machines to produce rugged, waterproof and UV stabilised products. "We can modify products on the fly, or we can design a new custom box for specific applications," he says.
The company expects major players and newcomers to the market to step up the pace of FTTX roll-outs over the short term. Tank Industries can scale up to meet these growing levels of demand if necessary. This, along with the fact that the products are 90% independent of exchange rate fluctuations, puts Tank Industries at an advantage when competing in the South African market. With products made in Africa, for Africa, Tank Industries is supplying its products into the pan-African market too, helping meet demand for fibre connections across the continent.
Maasch notes that the quality and longevity of FTTX accessories play a crucial role in ensuring that FTTX delivers - another factor where Tank Industries has an advantage. "Many installers just look at price, but when you're putting in a high speed cable meant to deliver upward of 15 years' service, you must ensure that the cable joints have the same longevity. It is important to maximise the number of fibre terminations in the box, as well as ensure access to the box later - cheaper products are often far more basic and don't look at long term maintenance and management," he says.
The timing of Tank Industries' move to the SA market could not have been better, Maasch concludes. "Due to the exchange rate and local economic indicators, along with surging demand for high speed Internet access, we see this is an opportune time to bring our first world product quality to the local market and stimulate the local economy by creating direct and indirect job opportunities."
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