Fibre-optic cable manufacturer Yangtze Optics Africa (YOA) Cable officially opened its new 14 000 m² optical fibre factory in the Dube TradePort, in La Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, on March 11.

The factory is currently producing about 80 000 km of fibre-optic cable a year and produced 4 800 km in February.

While production could be increased, the company had rather set its focus on manufacturing unique products for customers, YOA CEO Pieter Viljoen pointed out.

“We can produce more than 300 unique designs. In February, we produced 68 unique design cables for our customers, including our new 144-optical string fast-fusion cables that help with the ease of installation.”

The company has similarly designed optical cable products for different uses and environments across South Africa, such as lower-cost fibre cables to drive down the costs of networks for rural areas and stronger cables to accommodate wildlife perching on the cables used to connect homes.

The R160-million invested in the new factory added to the R150-million initial investment in YOA's first factory at the Dube TradePort in 2016. The company currently employed 155 people, mainly from the local communities. The latest investment would expand this to 210 permanent jobs, with the new positions to mainly be dedicated to learnerships and internships, he noted.

“The rapid expansion of 5G [mobile telephony] technology and AI-driven technology and the ever-increasing demand for high-speed connectivity mean that it is an exciting time for the optical fibre cable market.

“This also means that we are at the forefront of driving the digital transformation, as optical fibre is a vehicle to drive an inclusive digital economy for all South Africans,” said Viljoen.

The company and its partners have managed to successfully localise the production of polyethylene plastic for the manufacturing of its optical fibre cables.

The presence of YOA had strengthened trade in the Southern African Development Community, and it had generated R66-million in export revenue to the region over the past three years, said KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Reverend Musa Zondi.

“The company has also ensured that 80% of its maintenance budget supports the local industry, in addition to other crucial steps it has taken to support local supplier development and industrial sustainability. We are continuing to support the growth and innovation in this critical industry,” he said.

The decision to expand the manufacturing facility in the Dube TradePort was a testament to the importance of high-quality, locally produced fibre-optic cables in the digital economy, said Department of Trade, Industry and Competition Invest South Africa acting deputy director-general Yunus Hoosen.

The timing was strategically significant, because it positione South Africa as a leader in Africa's digital infrastructure rollout. It also aligned with government's objectives to expand local manufacturing capacity and reduce reliance on imports, he said.

“Digital connectivity is part of the broader National Development Plan. The aim is to use the national ICT policy to develop a digital economy masterplan. This is also a signal of government's commitment to provide affordable high-speed broadband connectivity for all South Africans.”

During a tour of the new factory on March 11, Viljoen said that the company imported the fibre lines that it then made into cables. Its storeroom for the fibre lines held about 450 000 km. It used about 180 000 km of these single fibreoptic lines in February.

The company averages about 32 optical fibre lines in one cable but can produce up to 432 lines in a cable. The longest cable it produces is up to 12 km.

The company also has a full suite of testing machines, from tensile strength, crush tests, to torsion tests and signal tests.

“Our innovation mainly focuses on what our customers want and the feedback we get from them; for example, our new fast-fusion design. The factory is designed to be energy-efficient, and much of our research, development and innovation focuses on making our products more resource-efficient.

“For example, we produce our slim line microcable, which has an outer diameter of 6.8 mm, using standard 250-µm-diameter fibre lines, thereby ensuring costs are not increased, yet has a 20% smaller diameter than a similar 144-line cable.”