Lifetime Connectivity

125 years of RFS

By Radio Frequency Systems
August 26, 2025
Next week, RFS celebrates its quasquicentennial, or 125-year anniversary since the founding of the company by communications pioneer Louis Hackethal. It is a milestone reached by relatively few businesses. It paradoxically requires both continual evolution and, at the same time, a constant ethos and set of values that keep the organization on the right course – but what does that look like?
RFS anniversary

We’ve distilled some of the key principles that have been at the heart of RFS, and look at how they have guided progress for well over a century

Invention

RFS Patent

It is the obvious place to start with Hackethal’s invention of the world’s first insulated wire for telecommunications in the year 1900, the catalyst for the founding of the company that would grow to become RFS.

Invention has always been a critical part of the company’s DNA, with RFS granted multiple patents for key cable inventions over the 20th and 21st centuries, including:

1951: HELIFLEX, the first RF power cable with corrugated coaxial transmission line
1961: CELLFLEX foam dielectric cables as the first corrugated welded coaxial cables
1972: RADIAFLEX the first radiating coaxial cable
2006: CELLFLEX Lite the first RF coaxial cable featuring an aluminum outer conductor
2009: HYBRIFLEX first hybrid feeder cabling solution for fiber and power connectivity

Investment

RFS Hannover Factory in 1920
RFS Hannover Factory in 1920
RFS Hannover Factory in 1920
RFS Hannover Factory today
RFS Suzhou Factory today
RFS Suzhou Factory today

To support the commitment to invention, investment is a critical component for the long-term success of any business. RFS has constantly invested in expanding its manufacturing capabilities and geographical footprint to serve its global customer base.

One of the most significant elements of this over the past 25 years has been the establishment of the manufacturing and R&D facility in Suzhou and the expansion of operations in China. RFS now runs as a business with a dual industrial setup in both Suzhou and Hannover, strengthening our ability to operate as a ‘local-global business’ in APAC and EMEA.  

This commitment to dual operations is highlighted in our recent multi-million Euro investment to upgrade several key aspects of the factory setups in both locations, which included:

  • Investing in R&D

    The launch of a Private 5G network at the Hannover site is both improving RFS processes through connected systems and functioning as a testing area for customer projects. In Suzhou, new high-precision lace machines are enhancing R&D capabilities and at the same time supporting the fullfilment of bespoke small-batch orders.

  • Improving Dual Factory Supply

    RFS has upgraded equipment to enable dual factory supply for all major products and ensure global business continuity. This has included installing a new tape winder in Suzhou for the production of fire-resistant cable to meet global standards, including CPR, across both manufacturing sites.

  • Optimizing Processes

    RFS has upgraded its TIG welding and capstan systems in Suzhou to optimize the corrugation process essential for the manufacture of longitudinally welded coaxial cables. A new, additional welding and corrugation line has also been installed to further increase the throughput of CELLFLEX cable.

  • Increasing Capacity

    A new punching machine again at the Hannover site has increased manufacturing capacity for RADIAFLEX radiating/leaky feeder cable to meet increased demand from vertical markets.

Innovation

Innovation contract

This is a real excerpt from one of our 1907 factory worker contracts, which offered bonuses to employees who were able to come up with innovations that could be implemented for the benefit of the business and its customers.

From the very beginning, innovation has not been the remit of one team, but a core value for every employee.

Skip forward to today, and this is still the case across RFS, with quarterly prizes awarded to teams within RFS that demonstrate a commitment to ongoing innovation. It is not always a big invention, but could be an initiative to improve our offering in a specific market, an operational tweak to improve efficiency. However, the big commitment is to ensuring good ideas, wherever they come from, are used to make the business better.

Take, for example, the latest award, given for a project focused on improving logistics and transport. The team involved made significant efficiency gains on all intercompany routes from Suzhou to the UK, Germany, and UAE. By standardizing and optimizing package dimensions to maximize container utilization, the team significantly increased loading capacity per container. This improved consolidation also positively impacted shipment frequency, leading to substantial cost savings and reductions in CO2 emissions.

Integrity

To succeed as a long-standing and trusted business partner, integrity is essential. This takes many forms, but as two examples of how we ensure integrity across operations, let’s look at our commitment to both fire safety and sustainability.

  • Fire Safety

    As manufacturers of mission-critical infrastructure, we must have robust processes in place to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations.

    To underpin our commitment to meeting CPR and other global fire safety standards, we have undertaken multiple projects including the installation of a new 5G connected burn chamber for on-site testing in Hannover. We have also renovated and upgraded additional jacketing lines in Hannover and Suzhou to facilitate the manufacture of CPR-compliant coatings across both sites

    This gives RFS one of the most comprehensive in-house fire resistance testing capabilities of any organization in the cable space and allows us to continue offering solutions that meet fire safety standards worldwide.

    Sustainability

    When it comes to sustainability, RFS works on four key principles,

    • Green by design

      Design for Environment (DfE) is part of the Product Lifecycle Process, with all products undergoing our RFS Product Carbon Footprint Life Cycle Assessment.

    • Built to last

      A long product lifespan is a key benefit for our customers, not only from an investment point of view but also from an environmental perspective. There is a reason our motto is ‘Lifetime Connectivity.’

    • Sustainable manufacturing

      At RFS, we are keen to lead by example, showing how the communications equipment industry, and particularly those involved in manufacturing, can achieve sustainability goals.

    • Smarter Logistics

      Delivering the final products to our customers is an area where there is potential to refine processes to reduce the overall carbon impact.

    A key demonstration of these principles in action is the installation of a rooftop solar array at our Suzhou factory. Covering 16,000 m², the system generates around 1.35 million kWh of clean energy each year—enough to offset approximately 1,346 tons of CO₂ emissions. This project reflects our long-term ESG focus and the belief that small, consistent steps across our operations can make a real difference for the planet.

    Both of these examples reflect a strong ongoing commitment to operating with integrity.

Integration

125 years of partner and customer relationships have shown us the importance of integration. From agnostic solutions that can slot into any ecosystem, to building a deep understanding of our vertical customers so we can better integrate into their projects and problem-solve, working collaboratively has been essential to our long-term success.

This ability to integrate and collaborate quickly and successfully has been long-standing. We can look at multiple projects at the iconic Eiffel Tower over many decades, including the installation of more than 1000m of HELIFLEX air-dielectric cable for broadcast coverage across the entire Greater Paris area. Or at the more recent deployments in Hong Kong, which have seen RFS deploy high-performance equipment across the region’s airports, car tunnels, subways, and rail networks to support mission-critical and commercial connectivity. The same deep understanding of how to meet customer needs has been a consistent quality of RFS for well over a century.

Continuing to Evolve

Standing the test of time is a misleading phrase – to succeed as a business for one and a quarter centuries, standing still is the one thing you cannot afford to do. At RFS, we have continued to move into new markets, with new industry standards, new technologies, new manufacturing approaches, new business models, not just to survive, but to thrive. We look forward to continuing to move forward with the values and principles that have seen us build industry-leading solutions and strong customer and partner relationships for many years to come.