News

A company that designs, manufactures and distributes fiber-optic connectivity and management products has announced two new product releases on the same day to serve as additional tools for operators who want to connect rural areas.

Kevin Morgan, chief marketing officer of Clearfield, the Minneapolis-based company behind the product releases, said Clearfield’s new product releases, a 6-inch pedestal and an active cabinet, are examples of the company’s efforts to be receptive to the needs of the industry.

Morgan said network operators should think of Clearfield’s new pedestal as “the right sized pedestal to hit the rural markets, or the less dense suburban markets.”

In an Oct. 12 announcement on their website, Clearfield described the CraftSmart FiberFirst 6-inch Pedestal as “a compact, secure, above-ground access point ideal for operators looking to expand their fiber footprint into less densely populated areas.”

Clearfield’s new FieldSmart FiberFlex 1700 active cabinet, which was also announced Oct. 12, provides from 12 to 432 internal fiber distribution ports and is designed to be configured for numerous applications, according to Clearfield’s website.

“Already we have several active cabinets in our product line but what this is doing is giving us a low-profile cabinet that meets the requirements for some of the municipalities and localities,” Morgan said.

Morgan, who said the products comply with buy-America standards, added that some municipalities have strict regulations that require active cabinets to be smaller.

“This is a four-foot-high cabinet so where that makes sense and where they need these products to house the electronics and the passives, we’ve got a solution now,” Morgan said. “So that’s a win win.”