HUBER+SUHNER Expands Collaboration with Microsoft Azure on Next-Gen Hollow Core Fiber Rollout
HUBER+SUHNER has announced a strengthened collaboration with Microsoft Azure Fiber, alongside plans to expand its production capacity to accelerate the rollout of Hollow Core Fiber ......
Black News 
HUBER+SUHNER has announced a strengthened collaboration with Microsoft Azure Fiber, alongside plans to expand its production capacity to accelerate the rollout of Hollow Core Fiber (HCF) cable and connectivity solutions for cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The company expects growing manufacturing volumes as Microsoft increases deployment of HCF across additional Azure regions.
The partnership, which has been ongoing since 2017, involves joint development work with Microsoft’s Azure team in Romsey, UK. Together, both companies have advanced the design and manufacturing of HCF cable and connector solutions, some of which are already in use within the Azure network. Higher-capacity versions are currently being developed to support future scaling of Microsoft’s HCF-enabled cloud infrastructure.
HUBER+SUHNER has also worked with Microsoft to develop ruggedized outside plant and inside plant cable solutions that are certified for field deployment. The company is further advancing next-generation high-density HCF cable designs to meet future network demands. Manufacturing processes have been established at its Herisau, Switzerland facility to integrate HCF into multi-fiber cable structures, with capacity set to increase as demand grows.
In addition, the company has developed a mode-converting HCF connector designed for hyperscale and metro optical environments. These connectors are already in series production at HUBER+SUHNER’s Cube Optics facility in Mainz, Germany, with further investment planned to scale output. The company is also expanding its HCF portfolio to deliver fully integrated end-to-end connectivity solutions.
According to HUBER+SUHNER, the technology represents a significant advancement for optical networks because hollow core fiber transmits data through air rather than glass, enabling up to 47% faster transmission speeds and lower latency. This makes it particularly valuable for data center connectivity and distributed AI workloads.
Microsoft noted that the collaboration has helped transition HCF from research into live deployment within the Azure network, with the technology already carrying live traffic. The company said it will continue co-developing scalable connectivity solutions to support future cloud and AI infrastructure growth.
The partnership is expected to play a key role in addressing connectivity challenges for next-generation data centers, including reducing latency, improving energy efficiency, and enabling more flexible infrastructure deployment across hyperscale cloud environments.
