Cerento Deploys Fiber Solution in 50% Less Time with YOURx-Terminal and FieldShield FLATdrop from Clearfield

Cerento delivers secure, reliable, individualized information technology infrastructure and networking solutions to its business clients. For a new deployment, Cerento’s client needed to provide fiber service to homes and businesses on each side of a point-to-point link between a central office (CO) and point of presence (POP), which are over a mile apart. Only three splice closures were installed along the existing cable path and there was not enough slack in the cable to add more. Due to these restrictions, the chosen solution needed to minimize the length of cable required to complete the installation.

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Challenge

Several key metrics are important to Cerento and their clients in order to have a winning solution. These include price, lead time and responsiveness. Clearfield was chosen because of their shorter lead times, excellent sales/support responsiveness and lowest total cost of ownership (TCO).

Image of a technician installing Clearfield YOURx-Terminal

Solution

The Clearfield solution to Cerento’s fiber challenge consists of the YOURx-Terminal (strand mounted for aerial application) and the FieldShield FLATdrop fiber drop cable assembly. The terminal is fed with FieldShield FLATdrop: one end of the cable goes to a traditional splice point and the other (MPO) end plugs into the terminal. Consecutive terminals may be connected using shifted pinouts until the original count is exhausted via the pushable MPO assemblies. The FieldShield FLATdrop used for the “drop” is a pigtail, connected to the terminal through the MPO breakout feeder input port, run to the building and spliced to a shorter pigtail. The final assembly jumper is made from this location into the subscriber location.

By using this shifted topology, the Clearfield YOURx-Terminal enables Cerento to install only about 35% of the cable needed versus a traditional hub-and-spoke topology—a significant savings in cable. The terminal’s MPO in/out ports let them build the shifted topology without any additional closures or fusion splicing requirements. And the shifted wiring schematic enables Cerento to use just a single terminal part number.

Results

“The biggest value of the Clearfield YOURx-Terminal solution is the substantial increase in speed to market through the lower product lead times offered by Clearfield, and by the reduction in deployment time,” says Kim Kobbe, Project Manager, Cerento. Cerento is particularly pleased with these benefits:

The Shift feature allows them to connect up to eight terminals, dramatically reducing material and labor requirements
The MPO in/out feature allows the deployment of a daisy chaining topology without any additional closure or fusion splicing requirements
The use of pre-connectorized FieldShield FLATdrop cables eliminates the need for fusion splicing on most installs—reducing equipment and labor costs

“We installed this deployment in half the time it would take without the use of the YOURx-Terminal. Clearfield was engaged in the success of our project from the beginning of the design phase, to the deployment of the network…even going as far as to send an installation specialist out to provide training and assistance to our field crew,” says Kobbe. “We look forward to working with Clearfield again in the near future!”

Terminal

Greatest design flexibility, cartridge upgrades possible

FLEXdrop

FieldShield MPO Pushable Fiber Connector Assemblies

MPO Pushable Assemblies

About Cerento

Cerento is an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company headquartered in Riverton, WY and performs its services across the United States. Cerento designs, deploys and manages communications systems to meet their client’s communications requirements in the Oil & Gas, ISP, Government, Private, Education, Agricultural and Hospitality industries.

We deliver secure, reliable, individualized solutions to our clients. Cerento assists organizations to harness the power of technology to deliver increased stakeholder value. For more information, visit www.cerento.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.