THE VIEW FROM THE SENTRY GROUP
THE VIEWFROM THE SENTRY ELECTRICAL GROUP
Demand for new fibre infrastructure and copper replacement has opened new business opportunities for contractors, particularly for those with experience in parallel sectors such as power and utilities. One such company is US-based renewable energy contractor Sentry Electrical Group, which has set up a new division to specifically address the fibre construction market. Optical Connections editor Peter Dykes , shared a screen with Dan Tibbitts , director of Sentry’s Fibre Optic division, to talk strategy.
think there’s a wider range of markets that have developed over the years in the fibre industry. That said, instead of going for the point to point or the campus environment, long-haul is definitely an area we’re targeting.
Having been involved in the renewables market, what made you set up this whole new division? Talking with Norm [Cowden], I knew that Sentry was going after the electrical industrial side and I thought that with my background
What are Sentry’s traditional markets?
PD
PD
These have been more on the electrical side, such as solar transmission and substations for the last 15 years. However, our owner approached me about starting a strictly telecom division to separate out the fibre aspect of the wind and solar projects, because the company was missing out on a lot of the fibre projects within those markets. Also, the company wanted to develop the telecom side, which is where I came in. I’ve been in telecoms for over 25 years and I’ve built a couple companies in the past. Sentry’s founder and president Norm Cowden, thought it would be a great opportunity to start getting into the telecom market, because the electrical side is only a small segment of the fibre optic industry. DT
DT
Are you seeing much traction in the area of copper replacement, or are you mainly putting new fibre in local markets? I think these copper networks have been getting replaced now for around 15 to 20 years here in the States. The limitations on copper
PD
in telecom and the contacts I’ve made over the years, it would be a pretty good fit to bring the telecom side into the company. It’s an awesome opportunity. It’s a little different when you build a company in a market, but it’s a lot different when you’re building it throughout the nation and I’ve had a learning curve with that, but I think the opportunities are endless. The reason I say that is because with long haul fibre, there are so many different applications. The biggest centres are popping up like crazy here. And you know, you’re not just putting in a 144-count cable, you’ll have ten 1728 cables coming in, and so I
DT
are pretty high when you compare it side by side with fibre, particularly in relation to distance, speed and the economic and the environmental impacts. These are huge issues. The copper industry will always be there but it’s been scaled back so much because of fibre.
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| ISSUE 24 | Q2 2021
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