A Clearfield distribution partner put me in touch with a customer planning to build out three large 50+ unit apartment buildings, with fiber to each unit. The customer was struggling with the costs associated with bringing fiber to each unit. He also wanted to make sure that there was a protected pathway to use in case a fiber cable was damaged or cut. A team from Clearfield met with him and began a preliminary discussion of his project. He explained that he needed to provide fiber to each unit since he was using a new indoor ONT that was deployed in each unit. He was concerned about placing a fiber optic cable in the wall that could potentially become damaged. If that happened he would have to rip apart the wall to replace it. The apartment owner was also concerned about this issue.

During this initial meeting it was determined that microduct would be the best solution. It provides a small footprint and a repairable pathway that could be installed at the same time as the electrical wiring in the building. In fact, the electrical contractor could install the duct and the telephone company could come back later and install the fiber. The next step was to determine what kind of microduct was required. Since Clearfield offers many types of microduct we could offer either a plenum or riser rated duct depending on local fire codes.

We had several meetings to discuss network design before finalizing the actual bill of materials. In the end, it was determined that the best option for the customer was a pushable fiber with 900um fiber inside of it. On the first floor of the building was a wall box that would house 1×32 splitters. The telephone company would come out and pull fibers from each unit back to the splitter wall box. His techs were able to easily pull the fiber through the microduct back to the splitter wall box in minutes. Each floor totaled 17 apartment units each and only took a couple of hours to pull. Clearfield appreciates the opportunity to come out and work with contractors on the first installation. This allows us to ensure the installation goes as smoothly as possible.

How did a Clearfield Fiber Delivery Solution Benefit the Customer?

• Listening and rapidly responding to changes in project requirements
• Providing support from design to actual implementation
• FieldShield^® Duct and Fiber providing a unique solution to the customer’s issues of rapid deployment, repairable pathway, and reduced labor times
• The flexibility of the FieldShield product line and Application Engineering support gave the customer the comfort that they had selected the best solution for their project

MDU’s are usually difficult. They don’t have to be. Let the Clearfield team and product line make it easier.

By: Tom Warren – Application Engineer