Panduit FONLZ48Y 48-Fiber OM4 LSZH Cable

Panduit FONLZ48Y 48-Fiber OM4 LSZH Indoor/Outdoor Cable

The Panduit FONLZ48Y delivers 48 strands of OM4 50/125 multimode fiber in a gel-free loose tube design rated for both indoor riser and outdoor aerial installations. LSZH jacketing makes this cable compliant with international fire codes and safe for enclosed spaces where PVC combustion byproducts pose a risk, while UV-resistant materials ensure long-term performance in direct sunlight and temperature extremes. Built on Panduit's Opti-Core® platform, this cable addresses high-density backbone requirements in data centers, campus networks, and multi-building complexes where a single pull must support current 10GBASE-SR links and future migration to 40G/100G without re-cabling.

Key Features

• 48 strands of OM4 laser-optimized 50-micron multimode fiber supporting 10G to 100m, 40G to 125m, and 100G to 150m per IEEE 802.3
• LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) jacket meets IEC 60332-1 and IEC 61034 for minimal smoke and no halogen acid gas during fire events
• Gel-free loose tube construction eliminates messy filling compounds while maintaining fiber protection and ease of mid-span access
• UV-resistant black PE outer jacket rated for continuous outdoor exposure, aerial lashing, and direct burial conduit runs
• Indoor/outdoor dual rating reduces inventory complexity and eliminates splice points at building entrance transitions
• Opti-Core® engineered geometry optimized for <0.5 dB insertion loss at 850 nm and >4700 MHz·km effective modal bandwidth
• Sequential meter marking on jacket simplifies length verification and minimizes waste during large campus pulls
• Bulk cable format allows field termination to LC, MPO-12, or MPO-24 assemblies matching specific port layouts and panel configurations

OM4 Performance and Migration Headroom
OM4 fiber operates at 850 nm with laser-optimized modal bandwidth of 4700 MHz·km, enabling 10GBASE-SR to 400 meters over duplex LC connections and 40GBASE-SR4 or 100GBASE-SR4 to 150 meters over MPO trunk assemblies. This distance envelope covers typical riser heights in mid-rise buildings and horizontal runs in enterprise data centers without requiring costly OM5 wideband fiber or single-mode infrastructure. The 48-strand count supports 24 duplex 10G links, 12 40G links via MPO-12, or 6 100G links via MPO-24 breakouts, with enough reserve strands for future adds or protection circuits. Unlike OM3 cable, OM4's tighter modal dispersion ensures you won't hit bandwidth walls when upgrading switch fabrics from 10G to 25G or 40G—critical for installations expected to serve 10+ year lifecycles.

LSZH Fire Safety and Code Compliance
LSZH jacketing uses halogen-free polymers that produce minimal visible smoke (<60% light transmittance per IEC 61034) and zero corrosive hydrochloric or hydrobromic acid when exposed to flame. This makes FONLZ48Y compliant with European EN 50575 CPR Euroclass requirements, NFPA 130 for transit stations, and IBC Chapter 4 provisions for high-occupancy spaces where PVC off-gassing could obscure egress routes or corrode sensitive electronics. In North American installations, LSZH cable often substitutes for plenum-rated OFNP in air-handling spaces where local AHJs accept IEC 60332-3 bundle burn testing as equivalent to UL 910 Steiner Tunnel—common in California, New York City, and military facilities. The black jacket color aids visual identification in mixed-cable environments and hides dust accumulation in underfloor pathways or overhead cable trays.

Gel-Free Loose Tube Construction
Traditional outdoor fiber cables use petroleum gel flooding to block water migration along the buffer tubes, but this creates a mess during termination and requires solvent cleaning before splicing or connectorization. Panduit's gel-free design substitutes water-blocking aramid yarns and superabsorbent tapes that swell on contact with moisture, creating a mechanical barrier without液体 compounds. Installers can strip the jacket, access individual tubes, and prepare fibers using standard cleavers and strippers—no cleaning stations, no contaminated tooling, and faster turnaround on splice closures or patch panel buildouts. The loose tube architecture isolates each fiber from jacket stresses caused by thermal expansion, building movement, or installation pull tension, maintaining <0.05 dB added loss across -40°C to +70°C operating range.

Indoor/Outdoor Dual Rating
FONLZ48Y's UV-stabilized polyethylene outer sheath passes 5,000-hour QUV accelerated weathering per ASTM G154, qualifying the cable for continuous sunlight exposure on rooftops, between buildings on aerial messenger, or in direct-burial conduit where frost heave and soil chemicals challenge jacket integrity. The same cable pulls through indoor riser conduits, eliminating the splice point and weather head typically required when transitioning from outdoor OSP cable to indoor distribution cable at the building entrance. This simplifies BOM, reduces failure points, and avoids the labor cost of fusion splicing 48 fibers in a NEMA enclosure. For data center hot-aisle containment or telecom central offices with raised floor cold air plenums, verify local AHJ acceptance of LSZH as a plenum substitute; many West Coast jurisdictions and DoD installations explicitly allow it, while some Midwest cities still mandate OFNP listings.

Deployment Scenarios
Use FONLZ48Y for campus backbone trunks linking distribution frames in separate buildings, where a single 48-fiber pull from the core switch room provides 24 duplex 10G uplinks to remote IDFs with growth capacity for link aggregation or future 25G/40G switches. In colocation facilities, run this cable vertically through riser conduits to feed 12-24 cabinet rows per floor, then break out to duplex LC jumpers at each meet-me room or cage cross-connect. For outdoor wireless backhaul, lash the cable to existing aerial strand between tower sites, then terminate to ruggedized fiber enclosures with MPO-to-LC fanout cassettes, supporting multiple CBRS radios or small-cell aggregation points. The 48-strand count also suits high-camera-density surveillance networks where 10G fiber feeds NVR clusters recording 4K or multi-imager streams—typical in airport aprons, stadium concourses, or casino gaming floors where a single cable drop serves six to twelve dual-fiber media converters.

Termination and Handling
Bulk cable ships on non-returnable reels; specify footage to minimize scrap and account for vertical rise, horizontal route, and 10-15% service loop at each termination point. Field termination options include fusion splicing to pre-terminated MPO trunk assemblies (fastest for 12/24-fiber breakouts), fusion splicing to individual LC pigtails in patch panels (maximum flexibility for mixed port counts), or direct connectorization using Panduit's field-installable LC or SC connectors and associated cure ovens. Maintain 25mm minimum bend radius during installation to avoid macrobending loss >0.5 dB at 850 nm. The aramid strength members require Kevlar scissors or shears; don't attempt to cut with standard cable knives. After jacket strip, identify fiber position by tube color sequence and individual fiber color code per TIA-598-C, then route to splice trays or connector modules with strain relief securing the central strength member to the panel chassis or closure base. Maximum recommended pulling tension is 600 lbf (2,670 N) when using a cable grip on the jacket; avoid pulling through the aramid yarns alone, which can stretch and create mid-span stress points.

Panduit FONLZ48Y ships as bulk cable sold per foot with a one-meter minimum cut length. This product carries a manufacturer warranty covering material and manufacturing defects; fiber attenuation and bandwidth performance meet or exceed TIA-492AAAE (OM4) specifications when installed per Panduit's published guidelines. LSZH compliance is verified by third-party test labs per IEC 60754-1 (halogen acid gas content) and IEC 61034-2 (smoke density), with certificates available for projects requiring AHJ submittal documentation or LEED Materials and Resources credits.