Clearfield Expands Line of OSP Cabinets

Customers Require Higher Port Count, Pole-Mounted Solutions; Platform Reduces Splicing Costs Without Sacrificing Quality or Convenience

MINNEAPOLIS, May 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clearfield, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLFD) the specialist in fiber management and connectivity platforms for communications providers, today announced an expanded offering to the FieldSmart Fiber Scalability Center (FSC) line of OSP cabinets. The FieldSmart FSC 432-Port Cabinet extends the scalability of the platform, by providing up to 432 fiber ports in a pad-mount or pole-mount option. The FSC-432 joins the line FSC-288, FSC-576 and FSC-1152 port solution.

When deployed as a PON cabinet, every OSP cabinet utilizes identical splitter modules, with sufficient fiber "legs" to reach any port on the cabinet. When deployed as a Cross-Connect Cabinet, every FSC cabinet provides a minimum of 48 user-defined feeder ports, allowing the service provider custom-configuration potential for feeder-to distribution ratios.

"Flexibility is key," comments Johnny Hill, chief operating officer for Clearfield. "Most every application environment is unique and having the ability to define feeder-to-distribution ratios on-the-fly has made the Clearfield OSP cabinet an important tool in reducing the cost of deploying broadband connectivity."

"Before joining Clearfield, I was responsible for the outside plant design of an extensive FTTH build," offers Brian Schrand, senior member of Clearfield's technical staff. "Having deployed hundreds of these cabinets, I know that having an identical splitter in every cabinet – and every central office build, was a significant time and money saver. Stocking a single SKU for splitters reduced our inventory requirements."

"Our goal is to ensure that our product lines are the most craft-friendly in the industry," comments Cheri Beranek, president and CEO of Clearfield. "When I speak to executives of our telephone customers, they've commented that always having the right product on-hand –- without the huge cost or space requirements of a lot of inventory, keeps their plows running, their technicians building and their projects on schedule."

More about the FieldSmart FSC

With Clearfield's Clearview Cassette™ at its heart, the FieldSmart FSC changes the rules of fiber management. Core to this design is the protection of the fiber in 12-unit blocks. Jacketed cable storage is eliminated because the 900um tight buffers have shed the outer riser rated jacket in favor of the cassette that protects it not only from human accidental damage, but also provides full bend radius protection throughout. The FieldSmart FSC accommodates all fiber management needs plus all the required slack storage for a "Patch & Splice" or "Patch Only" configuration.

The FieldSmart FSC provides an interconnect environment from the feeder network through the optical passive splitter to the distribution network in an FTTH PON OSP cabinet. User capacity can be scaled from as few as 12-ports to the maximum configuration per cabinet, allowing the service provider to align the investment in capital equipment to the turn-up of revenue-generating circuits. Labor and other field costs are minimized through its craft-friendly layout.

Splitter density is maximized through the use of splitter modules that stack together in a top-loaded "Splitter Cage" design. Pre-terminated splitter input/output legs are manufactured with bend insensitive fiber (G.657.A) and ruggedized jackets for harsh environments. Each splitter ships pre-parked within a disposable FieldSmart Parking Block, enabling the customer to simply place the splitter into the splitter cage, route pre-parked jumpers up to the Parking Block storage area and deploy subscriber circuits from there. Due to the highly configurable design of the FieldSmart FSC, splitters and WDM components can also be deployed in the Clearview Cassette. For optimum flexibility and crush resistance, ruggedized cabling is used throughout.

Patch & Splice Reduces Costs without Sacrificing Quality or Convenience

By splicing in the cabinet, cables are easier to manage and it eliminates the expense of a splice case – or the worry it could be exposed to environmental hazards, including water. Should a jumper be damaged, a new jumper can be routed to the appropriate tray inside of the cabinet without going back into the case – saving time and money.

"The Patch & Splice approach to OSP cabinets results in a cost savings of more than $900 per cabinet," estimates Hill. "FieldSmart takes Patch & Splice a step further. Due to the 'nesting design' of the Clearview Cassette, splice trays are integrated into the protection of the Cassette itself, allowing the field splicer to still capture all the convenience of a Patch Only configuration, such as splicing in an environmentally protected trailer."

Additional Information and Availability

Additional features and specifications are available at http://www.ClearfieldConnection.com. Demonstration videos are also available. The FieldSmart FSC 432 Port Cabinet, and all other port count options, is currently shipping.

About Clearfield, Inc.

Clearfield, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLFD) designs, manufactures and distributes fiber optic management 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 Plymouth, MN, Clearfield deploys millions of fiber ports each year throughout North America.

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

Released May 22, 2012