Performance and reliability of optical fiber connectors in the outside plant environment

Telecommunication (telco) systems for telephony, video, and other broadband services will use a large number of fiber optic connectors and many of these connectors may be deployed in the outside plant (OSP). To meet telco plant expectations, these connectors must maintain their performance for at least 15-20 years. Are the available fiber optic connector designs capable of meeting these requirements? Is there a concern about connector performance or reliability? To answer these questions and develop some understanding of the behavior of fiber optic connectors in the OSP environment, SC type connectors from four manufacturers were evaluated by subjecting them to a sequence of tests simulating OSP conditions. This paper presents the results of the environmental tests