The bigger and improved FTTx Centre is set to be a key highlight for visitors descending upon Geneva from across the globe to view the latest industry trends and technology at the European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) exhibition next week.

Expanding on the popular CTTS live engineering displays held at ECOC over the past five years, the new FTTx Centre will incorporate more interactive demonstrations on fibre optic network installation and deployment methods and air blown fibre FTTx inside and outside fibre optic plant.

The centre, open to visitors throughout the show from 19 to 21 September at Geneva’s Palexpo, will also include 10 new zones featuring the latest FTTx products and information. Fujikura, FTTH Council Europe, Anritsu and ITW Chemtronics are just a few of the big names set to showcase the latest in FTTx within the centre.

Chris Holden, chairman of FTTH Council Europe, commented: “There have been some exciting new developments in FTTx – it’s a hot topic. The expanded FTTx Centre will provide a much-needed, dedicated arena to showcase and discuss technical advancements.”

In addition to live demonstrations, CTTS will provide free training courses during the exhibition including modern fusion splicing techniques and passive optical network testing.

Alongside the FTTx Centre, the Market Focus will also again be a main attraction at the ECOC exhibition. The Market Focus is currently in its sixth year and, after record success at last year’s event, over 20 key industry players will hold seminars including Huawei, Oclaro, Ericsson, ADVA and Google. Topics for the presentation include: long haul optical transmission, data centre and interconnect technologies, mass-market broadband fibre access, optical network agility, packet optical transport, and test and measurements.

The Market Focus Theatre will also play host to a Special Ethernet Alliance Program on 19 September from 10:00 – 12:00. Here visitors will be able to join panellist discussions with JDSU and Opnext on key trends in optical communications such as the introduction to 40GE and 100GE from a test and measurement perspective.

“The ECOC exhibition now has over 300 exhibitors and we’re always looking for new ways to improve the show so we’re eager to see the response from this year’s visitors to the new and improved FTTx Centre,” said Beverley Lucas, Group Event Manager for Nexus Business Media, organisers of the ECOC exhibition. “With only a few days to go, we are looking forward to another successful ECOC exhibition, attracting a global audience.”

For further information about ECOC 2011 visit: www.ecocexhibition.com.