G657A2

G.657.A2 fiber is a type of bend-insensitive single-mode fiber defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) G.657 standard. It belongs to the G.657 A category and is compatible with G.652 fiber. This standard was first published in 2006, and in its 2009 revision, based on compatibility with G.652 fiber and the principle of minimum bending radius, G.657 fiber was subdivided into several subcategories. G.657.A2 is one of the newly added subcategories. This revision was officially adopted by the ITU-T in December 2009. The new standard introduced three bending grades (1, 2, and 3) based on the minimum bending radius. G.657.A2 belongs to bending grade 2, corresponding to a minimum bending radius of 7.5 mm. The most significant feature of G.657.A2 optical fiber is its excellent bending resistance.

This optical fiber is mainly used in scenarios requiring high bending adaptability, such as fiber-to-the-home, indoor cabling, and data center rack patching. It is particularly suitable for miniaturized optical cable designs such as butterfly drop cables. With the construction of AI data centers and the development of the low-altitude economy, its application has expanded to emerging fields such as data center interconnect (DCI) and UAV fiber guidance. The ITU-T first released the G.657 optical fiber standard in 2006, aiming to solve the bending loss problem in access networks.

Driven by emerging demands such as low-altitude economic drone applications and AI data center construction, the market demand for G.657.A2 optical fiber has grown significantly. The United States, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other regions and countries are building computing centers on a large scale. As a special optical fiber that can be bent significantly, transmit data at high speed, stability and low loss, G.657.A2 optical fiber has a strong market demand [34]. Against this background, its application field has expanded from traditional communication networks to emerging high-growth fields. Unlike the previous cycle dominated by the demand of telecom operators, the current demand structure is more diversified, and emerging fields such as AI data centers and drones have become important application directions.

From 2025 to early 2026, the market price of G.657.A2 optical fiber experienced a dramatic surge, rising from 32 yuan per core kilometer to 240 yuan, an increase of 650%. The market saw a simultaneous increase in both volume and price, with optical fiber production and sales volume in the first quarter of 2026 increasing nearly fivefold year-on-year. In early May 2026, a company in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, reported that the price of G.657.A2 optical fiber had increased tenfold within a year, with orders increasing fourfold year-on-year. The tight supply-demand relationship led to a shift in sales models from "payment after delivery" to "payment before delivery," or requiring customers to pay a deposit in advance to secure factory capacity. Demand exceeded supply, with some companies' orders already scheduled for the first quarter of the following year. By May 2026, many companies' export orders were scheduled for 2028. This round of market boom was mainly driven by demand from emerging applications such as AI data center construction and drones. Simultaneously, optical fiber manufacturers shifted their production capacity towards high-value products such as G.657.A2, leading to supply shortages.

According to Nomura Securities' April 2026 forecast, the current price increase in optical fiber and cable is jointly influenced by demand from AI data centers and military drones. Analysis indicates that increased investment in AI infrastructure is the main driver of this price surge. The development of the low-altitude economy has also increased the application of optical fiber drones, further boosting market demand for G.657.A2 optical fiber.

On the supply side, there are technological and process barriers to optical fiber capacity expansion, and the previous industry downturn has made major manufacturers more cautious in their expansion decisions. It is believed that given the rigid supply, optical fiber prices may remain high, but the optical fiber industry is cyclical, and demand changes may occur several years later.

In terms of construction, when performing G.657 optical fiber fusion splicing, construction units may experience excessive splicing loss due to improper fusion splicer version, operation, or parameter selection. Some fusion splicers' single-mode splicing programs may not be able to recognize G.657.A2 optical fiber. Regarding testing, when using an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) to test splice loss, the difference in mode field diameter between G.657 and G.652 fibers may cause the OTDR curve to exhibit a "large positive and large negative" phenomenon, making accurate results difficult to obtain for unidirectional testing. In terms of operation and maintenance, installation and maintenance failures due to insufficient pigtail bending radius account for a relatively high proportion. Therefore, during FTTH installation, it is recommended to avoid directly terminating the drop cable with pigtails. Instead, consider using pre-terminated butterfly cables or fiber optic products that meet relevant performance requirements for installation and termination.