Clearfield announces Clearview xPAK fiber cassette
FEBRUARY 25, 2010 -- Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLFD) announced 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, Clearfield asserts.
The Clearview xPAK unfolds to a flat, single-piece element in which all required components for fiber protection are integrated, the company says.
“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.”
Prices for the xPAK start at less than $100, which Clearfield believes should enable technicians to carry cartons of the cassettes in the field. The xPAK is shipped flat and unassembled. At the deployment site, the technician will take the xPAK device, and following pictorial user instructions, will assembly the device to match his field requirements, the company says. Integrated into the footprint of the device is an industry-compatible splicing tray that is surrounding with fiber protection elements that support a two-, four- or six-port fiber assembly as well as a range of optical component devices. (Clearfield provides a 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, the company asserts. Any unused element is disposable.
Clearview xPAK is targeted at applications in which up to six fibers are landed or an optical component device is deployed in a remote location. Application environments include wireless back-haul, business-class service delivery, node segmentation, fiber exhaust scenarios, utility substations, or fiber to the desk.
Clearview xPAK can be deployed as a standalone device or, in future, with FieldSmart Fiber Delivery Point (FDP) products for access-network environments.
The Clearview xPak is shipping and is being offered to market through distribution, including Power & Tel.
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