Clearfield Announces Clearview xPAK

New product designed to deliver the fastest, most convenient method to land small-count fiber and optical components.

With pricing starting at under $100, xPAK is considered a market breakthrough.

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLFD) announced its latest innovation in fiber management, the Clearview xPAK Cassette. Engineered to land small port count fiber terminations and optical components as conveniently and inexpensively as possible, the xPAK simplifies fiber management to the level of a consumable good.

At first glance, Clearview xPAK looks like any other LGX compatible package, but upon closer inspection, technicians will see a new generation of innovation in the delivery of terminated fiber assemblies. Clearview xPAK unfolds to a flat, single-piece element in which all required components for fiber protection are integrated. "When landing small-port count fiber, we went back to the field and asked broadband service providers what they needed," comments Johnny Hill, Clearfield's COO. "They told us they had the highest standards for fiber protection and reliability - but deployment needed to be fast, intuitive, small count and small form factor. And the product needed to be so inexpensive, that techs could conveniently keep small lot counts in their trucks and deploy as service calls were scheduled."

"We get into a lot of buildings that were built more than 100 years ago, and the communications space inside those buildings is a premium," explains Alan Shaw of Time Warner Cable's Business Class team. "As we bring business class services to these tight spaces, Clearfield's xPAK design delivers the functionality we need."

Shipped Flat for Service Provider Ease of Deployment

Priced to allow field personnel to carry cartons of Clearview xPAK Cassettes in the field, xPAK is shipped flat and unassembled. At the deployment site, the technician will take the xPAK device, and following simple pictorial user instructions, will assemble the device to match his field requirements. Integrated into the footprint of the device is an industry-compatible splicing tray, which is then surrounded with fiber protection elements that support a 2-, 4- or 6-port fiber assembly as well as a range of optical component devices. (Clearfield provides a wide selection of user-defined split-count PON splitters or WDM channel frequencies.)

To ensure everything needed is at the installer's fingertips, all potentially used components, including the splice sleeves, are included within the Clearview xPAK packaging kit. Similar to the concept of a model airplane, any unused element is simply disposable.

Application Environments

Clearview xPAK is the ideal fiber management device when up to six fibers are landed or an optical component device is deployed in a remote location. Application environments include cell back-haul, business class service delivery, node segmentation, fiber exhaust scenarios, utility sub-stations, or fiber-to-the-desk deployment.

Enclosure Options

Clearview xPAK can be deployed as a stand-alone device, or, for an additional layer of protection, look for a series of new announcements from Clearfield on FieldSmart Fiber Deliver Point (FDP) products for access-network environments.

"Clearview Landed"

Clearview xPAK will integrate into a company's or municipality's favorite inside and outside plant enclosures. Look for the "Clearview Landed" symbol to indicate an enclosure that is "xPAK Ready."

Price and Delivery

Clearview xPAK is shipping and is being offered to the market through distribution, including Power & Tel. Prices start at under $100. "I've asked other vendors to look at this issue, and nobody has anything that's more condensed and smaller to use," adds Brian Hanson, commercial construction manager for Midcontinent Communications. "This whole device will cost about $100, and it'll work for many things that we're currently doing right now."

About Clearfield, Inc.

Clearfield, Inc. designs and manufactures the WaveSmart Platform of Powered Optical Signal products, including the WaveSmart PowerNode 1550 EDFA, and the FieldSmart fiber management platform, which includes its latest generation FieldSmart Fiber Distribution System (FxDS), FieldSmart Fiber Scalability Center (FSC) and FieldSmart Fiber Delivery Point (FDP) series. The FxDS, FSC and FDP product lines are built upon the Clearview Cassette, delivering the industry's only fiber management platform that is built upon a single architecture. Scaling from 12 to 1728 ports, FieldSmart support a wide range of panel and cabinet configurations, densities, connectors and adapter options, and are offered alongside an assortment of passive optical components. Clearfield provides a complete line of fiber and copper assemblies for inside plant, outside plant and access networks. Clearfield is a public company traded on NASDAQ: CLFD.

More information about Clearfield, Inc., its products and its people can be found at www.ClearfieldConnection.com.

    Source: Clearfield, Inc.

Released February 25, 2010