Clearfield Plays it Cool with FieldSmart Fiber Active Cabinets

Fiber-optimized outdoor cabinet capability expands to accommodate non-hardened active components with air conditioning option

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLFD), the specialist in fiber management for communication service providers, today announced the new air conditioner option to the FieldSmart^© Fiber Active Cabinet (FAC) product line for outdoor enclosures—further expanding its application of active outdoor cabinets. With this new capability, service providers can now better meet the emerging demands associated with the Gigabit Economy as they can deploy routers, switches and other non-hardened devices closer to the end customer. Delivering this ability expands the range and reach of high-value, content-rich fiber services and sets the stage to better support applications such as Internet of Things (IoT), gaming and higher-definition video.

“Customers are telling us they need to place non-hardened active equipment deeper in the network requiring climate-controlled air conditioners that maintain operating temperature inside the cabinet,” said Johnny Hill, Clearfield’s chief operating officer. “The challenge our customers face is that the development times to engineer these devices so that they can be deployed in the outside plant isn’t feasible if they want to take early advantage of market demand. By adding this feature to our FACs, we’re solving that problem for them, with the added benefit of having one partner that’s able to work with them on any deployment.”

The FieldSmart Fiber Active Cabinet (FAC) is designed with the philosophy of modularity and flexibility, while maintaining a maximum cooling capability for the active electronics investment. The new FAC air conditioner option allows a new application solution for the non-hardened equipment to survive the harsh outdoor conditions, providing a single opening for the conditioned (supply) air to be discharged into the cabinet and for the indoor air to return to the air conditioner. The FieldSmart FAC sizes that accommodate the air conditioner option also include the following elements:

• FieldSmart FAC 3200 features two front and rear 16RU 23” frames that can accommodate up to 32RU of active electronics while providing up to 576 internal fiber distribution ports for deployments.
• FieldSmart FAC 5400 features two swing frame front and rear 27RU 23” frames that can accommodate up to 54RU of active electronics and provides up to 1,152 internal fiber distribution ports for deployments.

FieldSmart Fiber Active Cabinets are designed to accommodate the variety of standard options expected in remote cabinets, such as the rectifier system, battery warmers and field upgradeable fiber bulkheads. The FieldSmart FAC air conditioner products are scheduled for general availability March 2020. More information can be found in the associated data sheets at www.SeeClearfield.com.

About Clearfield, Inc.

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLFD) designs, manufactures and distributes fiber optic management, protection and delivery products for communications networks. Our “fiber to anywhere” platform serves the unique requirements of leading incumbent local exchange carriers (traditional carriers), competitive local exchange carriers (alternative carriers), and MSO/cable TV companies, while also catering to the broadband needs of the utility/municipality, enterprise, data center and military markets. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, Clearfield deploys more than a million fiber ports each year. For more information, visit www.SeeClearfield.com.