When I was younger, and about this time every year, I would grab two bales of straw, put a heavy rubber mat over the back of them, find a piece of old cardboard and put a few dots on it with spray paint. I had built my target. Then I would take out my bow and a handful of arrows and start practicing my technique before hunting season started. I would stand in the back yard for hours and shoot my bow from different places, adjusting my sights until I could hit the bullseye just about every time, no matter from what distance or what angle I was shooting. The point of it all was to make sure when the time came, I could hit my target.

The interesting thing about bow hunting is not just one type of arrow is used. While all the arrow tips are the same weight, different types of arrowheads are deployed, depending on the intent: broadhead arrows for large game, field points for small game and even bowfishing arrowheads. I pick the proper arrow for the hunting application I’m doing at the time.

Clearfield^® applies that same thought process when it comes to choosing products for MDU deployments. MDUs are a hot topic right now in the broadband world and I have noticed that some fiber delivery product methodologies are predicated on the idea that you can have one “target” and therefore have a one-size-fits-all product. I think they are really missing the mark. MDUs as a whole are one category, but just like bow hunting is categorized under the broad spectrum of hunting, it is really quite different than other types of hunting. It’s the same with an MDU. The broad term means multi-dwelling unit, and we typically have three categories under that: garden style, mid-rise and high-rise. These are all MDUs, but require a different approach to provide fiber services. So, you don’t really have just one bullseye; you have multiple bullseyes that you must target.

Here at Clearfield, we have those arrows: one product portfolio that can vary in how it is deployed, but where the components work in conjunction with each other to hit those different targets. For example, the YOURx^™ Flex Box is just what it says…flexible. It allows for MDU deployments of various types by allowing the service provider to choose what they want inside. It might be the FieldShield^® StrongFiber Drop Wheel assembly that allows them to pull individual living unit fibers up to 200' away and store all the slack in a small, compact assembly. When lengths are over 200', they might choose to use a FieldShield StrongFiber Deploy Reel. Or maybe they need the Clearview^® Blue Cassette with an optical component in it. See where I am going with this? Having Clearfield product in your truck is just like having different arrows in a quiver…all serving a distinct purpose and each one having a different function, but working together to hit those targets.

Stop by our website or contact us and check out what arrows we have for you!

By Scot Bohaychyk

Scot Bohaychyk—Manager, Product Marketing—has nearly 30 years in the telecommunications industry. Scot’s background includes serving in The White House Communications Agency, providing communications infrastructure support for then-President Ronald Reagan and his White House staff. Scot’s private sector experience includes OSP field and engineering experience, as well as market development and sales work in the fields of blown and pushable fiber for long-haul fiber installations—both in the United States and overseas.