ClearCurve optical fiber brochure - CORNING Telecommunications - #1

Corning® ClearCurve™ Optical Fiber

The fastest route is not always a straight line

Corning once again pushes standard single-mode fiber performance to new levels, introducing Corning® ClearCurve™ optical fiber, a fiber with hundreds of times better macrobend performance than other standard single-mode fibers to address key technical challenges for carriers installing fiber-to-the-home networks in apartment buildings and condominium complexes.This vastly improved macrobend performance allows carriers to design optical fiber into much more challenging installation environments.

Market Overview

Service providers continue to drive fiber closer to the end user. Increasingly, network operators are leveraging the near infinite information carrying capacity of fiber, as well as the lowered operating costs of optical networks. Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments continue to grow across the world and as fiber gets closer to end-users, the demands on fiber-based networks will continue to increase. Limited facility space and installers' ability to deploy quickly are driving smaller designs and more strenuous deployment conditions.The latest opportunity is bringing optical networks to and within apartment homes and condominium complexes or multiple dwelling units (MDUs).There are approximately 680 million MDU units around the world and nearly 30 million in the United States alone. For carriers, accessing a high density of households can reduce the capital costs per subscriber. The potential is great, but the challenges of these installation environments are significant: space limitations, tight bends, and a perception of fiber as "sensitive" all represent hurdles to installers'goals of cost savings, installment time reduction, and more aesthetic designs.

Standards Organizations Respond

Recognizing the change in macrobending performance requirements for FTTH networks, the ITU published Recommendation ITUG.657in December of 20o6.This standard, summarized below, describes characteristics of bend-enhanced single-mode fibers for access networks.