Clearfield Expands Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing Solutions for Fiber Network Monitoring
Key Highlights
- Distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) turns fiber into a monitoring platform, enabling operators to gain continuous visibility across aerial, buried, and conduit-based network infrastructure.
- New sensing cable solutions monitor critical conditions, including temperature changes, acoustic activity, and physical strain that can impact fiber reliability and network performance.
- Operators can detect potential threats earlier, including excavation activity, unauthorized access, environmental changes, and infrastructure stress before they result in outages or costly emergency repairs.
Clearfield, Inc. has expanded its fiber connectivity portfolio with new distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) cable solutions designed to help operators monitor critical infrastructure across broadband, data center, wireless, and edge environments.
The new sensing cables use distributed fiber sensing technology to provide continuous visibility across aerial, buried, and conduit-based fiber routes. Unlike point-based monitoring systems that rely on individual sensors or cameras, DFOS can detect changes along extended sections of infrastructure, helping operators identify potential issues before they lead to outages or costly repairs.
“Broadband, data center, and wireless operators manage significantly different infrastructure, but they all face the same challenge: limited visibility into conditions across critical assets—whether that's miles of fiber, dense data center environments, remote edge and IoT sites, or critical border and perimeter infrastructure,” said Anis Khemakhem, Chief Commercial Officer of Clearfield.
“Fiber sensing gives them better information about potential threats and changing network conditions so they can respond sooner, protect critical assets, and make more informed maintenance and security decisions," adds Khemakhem.
Network outages can carry significant costs. Uptime Institute’s 2026 Annual Outage Analysis found that 57% of respondents said their most recent major outage cost more than $100,000, while one in five reported costs above $1 million.
The portfolio includes temperature, acoustic, and strain sensing cables. Temperature sensing solutions identify thermal changes and hot spots, acoustic sensing cables detect activity such as digging or unauthorized access, and strain sensing cables monitor physical stress caused by ground movement, shifting poles, and other environmental factors.
The sensing cables connect to an interrogator that analyzes optical signals and can integrate with Clearfield infrastructure, including active cabinets, central office environments, and the NOVA™ platform.
The technology is designed to support network monitoring, infrastructure protection, and maintenance planning across outside plant networks, data centers, edge sites, IoT locations, and other critical facilities.
Source: Clearfield, Inc.
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