Venture Communications Brings Latest Telecommunications Technology to Rural South Dakota

Clearfield Products Used in Ambitious FTTH Project

MINNEAPOLIS, July 26, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For the first time, many residents in the rural areas of South Dakota will have access to the latest telecommunications advancements because of a new Fiber to the Home (FTTH) project by Highmore, S.D.-based Venture Communications Cooperative.

Broadband stimulus award winner Venture teamed up with Clearfield, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLFD) in the FTTH deployment that will span more than 900 square miles serving a trio of communities in north central S.D. The ambitious project, funded in part by a $7 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus award, began in the spring and will be completed by the 4th quarter of this year. In the end, area businesses and residents will enjoy the benefits of high speed internet, IP video and high definition television, as well as phone, long distance, and voice messaging. The fiber deployment, which is an overbuild of the existing telecommunications architecture, will cover three exchanges and more than 900 access lines in and around Faulkton, Orient and Cresband, S.D. "With our rural build, you plow many miles to get to a very few customers," Venture Assistant General Manager Randy Olson said.

"Traditionally, it's been difficult getting broadband to a rural market. So, we like to say we had 'lower high speed internet' service in the past," Olson said. "There were no video products for rural consumers and many had coax-based TV service. So our customers are really looking forward to the new services this FTTH project will bring."

An integral aspect of the deployment will be the installation of Clearfield's FieldSmart Fiber Crossover Distribution System (FxDS) as part of the central office operation. The FieldSmart FxDS frame is being used in the Faulkton FTTH deployment, while FieldSmart FxDS panels are being utilized in Cresband and Orient. Venture has three central offices that came about as a result of stimulus awards, and another three in their ILEC exchanges. It is deploying a Passive Optical Network (PON) with Calix.

According to Venture's COE Supervisor Brad Ryan, the decision to go with Clearfield was based on a number of criteria, including cost effectiveness, fiber management efficiency, ease of access/turn-up, and cleanliness. "Clearfield met our criteria and needs on all these issues," he said. "We have been using Clearfield products for about four years, and have been very happy with their quality and the very helpful, responsive sales team."

 "We did a thorough investigation of fiber management products," Olson explained. "Clearfield was the best choice for the money."

"Providing fiber management and protection products that enable our customers to scale their operations is the core aspect of the Clearfield value proposition," comments Cheri Beranek, president and CEO of Clearfield. "Our partnership with Venture Communications is just one example of how the FieldSmart product line delivers on its promise to enable cost-effective broadband connectivity."

About Venture Communications Cooperative Venture Communications Cooperative is a member-owned organization that was founded in 1952. Headquartered in the community of Highmore, South Dakota, Venture provides high-quality, professional services including high speed DSL Internet, high speed wireless Internet, digital cable TV, satellite TV, cellular, long distance, and voice messaging. Additional information is available at www.venturecomm.net or by contacting venture@venturecomm.net or 1-800-824-7282.

About Clearfield, Inc. Clearfield, Inc. sets the standard for fiber performance with FiberDeep, while lowering the cost of broadband deployment with the FieldSmart fiber management platform and the CraftSmart OSP enclosure system. FieldSmart is the only fiber management platform to be designed around a single architecture – the Clearview Cassette and xPAK— for the inside plant, outside plant and access network. Scaling from 1 to 1728 ports, FieldSmart supports a wide range of panel and cabinet configurations, densities, connectors and adapter options, and are offered alongside an assortment of passive optical components. CraftSmart is the industry's only field enclosure system optimized for fiber deployment. FiberDeep is a new class of fiber patch cords that guarantees performance at .2dB insertion loss — fully half that of the industry standard. Clearfield is a public company traded on NASDAQ: CLFD.

CONTACT: Gary Young
         612-247-8123
         garydyoung@comcast.net

Released July 26, 2011