New extra-flexible fiber put to the test

In October, Connexion Technologies — which deploys wholesale fiber-to-the-premises networks — became the first company to deploy a new type of fiber from Corning. Its advanced flexibility promised to change fiber deployment and economics, and according to Connexion, the product is living up to the hype.

Corning's ClearCurve fiber, generally available in the first half of 2008, was unveiled at the Fiber-to-the-Home Conference in October. In demos, the fiber was wound around the shaft of a screwdriver multiple times without disturbing the video signal inside. (The vendor promises no more than 0.1 dB of loss for every 10 millimeter diameter turn.)

“In certain applications, Corning's new fiber may be ‘game-changing,’” said Simon Leopold, analyst for Morgan Keegan, imagining smaller cabinets and easier installations, especially in multiple-dwelling units.

Having already deployed 30,000 feet of the fiber in a Miami beta test, the first thing Connexion's installers noticed was a lighter load to carry up stairs in condominium high-rises. Instead of a 36-inch spool with 5000 feet of fiber, ClearCurve came in boxes bearing reels of 1500 feet (its greater flexibility allowing it to be packaged more tightly).

Whereas Connexion might typically spend 60 to 90 minutes cabling a particular residence, they find themselves finishing the job in just 30 to 45 minutes with ClearCurve.

The product's flexibility and smaller diameter allowed Connexion to use smaller, plastic conduits that installers often have trouble pulling standard fiber through. And it can bend more without creasing, said Jeff Woodlief, vice president of design and construction for Connexion. “The cable has almost no cable memory,” he said.

That quality aids not only installation times, but also service performance, Woodlief said. Turning up services with standard fiber, about 40% of Connexion's trouble tickets come from fiber microbends inside the structured wiring boxes that the company deploys in each dwelling unit.

“When you hook up your cable to the [optical network terminals] in a structured wiring box, space is tight,” he said. “The data is still coming in, but we have a strong belief that the number of those trouble tickets will be reduced.”

Connexion was impressed enough with ClearCurve that it has committed to use the fiber in its next project: a 280-unit condo in Milwaukee.