Managing a Successful Tower Construction: From the RFP to the Backhaul Presented By: Rafael Fernandez Clearfield, Inc.

Fiber to the Cellular Site Fiber has already been recognized for use in backhaul applications. It has proven to be far more reliable, and is unmatched in its capacity.

The Challenges of Space & Weight In the past, each antenna has been connected by a large (2", 50mm) coax cable that carries both signal and power to the antenna. But with all these antennas, the size, weight and even wind resistance of these cables has become a big problem. These towers, which have been upgraded to add many antennas (such as the one shown at left), illustrate the problem with these large coax cables. Taken from the Fiber Optics Association, Inc. reference guide to fiber optics.

Bigger is Not Better Typical copper cables - 2” in dia. New Microduct - 10mm in dia.

Solutions to the Problem We can solve many of the size and weight issues with one simple solution…fiber. Pre-connectorized fiber cables housed in ruggedized microducts can provide all the capacity that will be needed now, and in the future, in a space as small as 10mm. That’s 24 fibers in a space about the size of a man’s ring finger.

Example of a Microduct Fiber Terminal

The Solution The solution for the future deployment and organization of multi-carrier towers is simple. Deploy easy to use and maintain fiber terminals with pre- connectorized fiber jumpers to each RU. This allows for greater flexibility and aids in quicker response times to outages.

Questions??? If you have any questions regarding this or any of the Clearfield family of products, feel free to contact: Scot Bohaychyk Product Marketing/New Products Or Rafael Fernandez Sales Manager LATAM/Caribbean Or