FieldSmart Makwa Changes the Landscape for OSP Fiber

Industry's Smallest Fiber Distribution Hub is First Designed for Both Above and Below Grade

MINNEAPOLIS, March 23, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clearfield, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLFD), the specialist in fiber management and connectivity platforms for communications providers, today announced the FieldSmart Makwa Fiber Distribution Hub (FDH). Like the bear for which it is named, the FieldSmart Makwa FDH can be placed either above or below ground, is environmentally protected, versatile, scalable, damage resistant, easily accessible and cost effective. Built from the ground up and inside a sealed closure, Clearfield has developed the smallest 288 port PON or 432 Cross-Connect FDH in the industry. Enclosed in a black impact and UV resistant Thermoplastic material, the product will withstand all OSP environments, above or below grade. With a removable top cover, all of the fibers are protected and fully accessible for service changes and maintenance. With the ability to be housed in a 24 x 36 x 24 inch vault or hand-hole, FieldSmart Makwa can be placed in any below grade environment incuding the boulevard or area between the curb and sidewalk. As this space is typically owned by the municipality, only a single permit is required expediting the pre-construction engineering process.

"Communities are mandating that the products providing service to the area be hidden or out of site," explains Johnny Hill, Clearfield COO. "The size, weight, and cost of existing solutions and their lack of moisture control have prohibited them from being placed underground. The FieldSmart Makwa provides the broadband service provider the choice of where to deploy, without sacrificing performance or access, at a cost less than a traditional metal cabinet."

Reducing the Footprint with Clearview Black

Extending the principles of fiber management originally offered to market with the Clearview Cassette, Clearfield announces Clearview Black. In a footprint that is 50% smaller than the Clearview Classic and Clearview Blue Cassettes, Clearview Black incorporates the same flexibility and scalability. Reducing the overall footprint of this fiber management element, lowers real-estate costs and improves density without comprising critical design elements of access, bend-radius protection, physical fiber protection and route-path diversity.

Providing up to 24 ports of connectivity, Clearview Black scales and multiplies to meet specific port density and application needs. Supporting standard configurations, plug 'n play MPO/MTP as well as optical component integration, all fiber construction types are supported and terminated with a process that has been third-party tested compliant to Telcordia GR-326 requirements.

Engineered to reduce the cost of gigabit deployment, Clearview Black's integrated splice tray removes the need to dedicate a separate chassis space or splice enclosure while providing optimal protection and space utilization. Tool-less, snap-together constructions making service turn-up time faster.

Ribbonizing allows quicker troubleshooting and restoration of affected fibers, as 12-fibers are ribbonized only where the splicing needs to occur, providing single-circuit access as necessary. Clearfield's disposable ribbonizing tool efficiently organizes and prepares loose tube fibers to facilitate mass fusion splicing. Incorporating mass fusion splicing practices saves installation time and improves consistency and project reliability compared to performing single fiber fusion splicing.

Makwa as a PON Cabinet

Consistent with a simple yet innovative design methodology, the WaveSmart High Density (HD) Splitter offering for the FieldSmart Makwa utilizes a 75% smaller package with smaller diameter legs resulting in 70% less cable pile up than traditional packaging. Internal fiber management and termination principles that have been field tested by Clearfield in temperature and weather extremes ranging from Alaska to Jamaica are maintained.

Changing the Status Quo

Weighing less than half that of a splice case and a fraction of a traditional above-grade FDH, the FieldSmart Makwa is easily accessible to the service technician for maintenance, repair and service turn-up. Pre-wired for growth and high scalability, additional subscribers can be turned up by simply installing a pre-connectorized fiber cable to complete the circuit.

"The explosion in consumer demand for gigabit broadband has been hampered with recent challenges associated with municipal permitting and provider pole access," continued Hill. "While some fiber management providers are answering this call by offering engineering services to their service provider community, at Clearfield, we believe the more innovative approach is to reduce the amount of pre-construction engineering time and skill required. The FieldSmart Makwa is one of these labor-lite product line designs."

Availability

FieldSmart Makwa is being displayed at the Minnesota Telecom Alliance tradeshow this week in Minneapolis. The product will ship for general availability on July 1. The Makwa is fully compatible with all elements of the Clearfield product line, including FieldShield Pushable Fiber and Microduct, FieldShield SmartTerminals and the CraftSmart line of below grade vaults.

Full product information, whitepapers and demonstration video are available at SeeClearfield.com.

About Clearfield, Inc.

Clearfield, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLFD) designs, manufactures and distributes fiber optic management, protection and delivery products for the communications networks of leading ILECS, CLECs, MSO/cable TV companies and mobile broadband providers. We help service providers solve the Fiber Puzzle, which is how to reduce high costs associated with deploying, managing, protecting and scaling a fiber optic network to deliver the mobile, residential and business services customers want. Based on the patented Clearview™ Cassette, our unique single-architected, modular fiber management platform is designed to lower the cost of broadband deployment and maintenance by consolidating, protecting and distributing incoming and outgoing fiber circuits and enable our customers to scale their operations as their subscriber revenues increase. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Clearfield deploys millions of fiber ports each year throughout North America and beyond.

CONTACT: Clearfield PR Contact
  Christy Kemp
  Calysto Communications
  Tel: + 1 404 266 2060 x539
  ckemp@calysto.com

Released March 23, 2015