February 11, 2008 -- Corning Inc. reports that Verizon Communications Inc. has purchased Corning's ClearCurve rugged drop cable for the service provider's FiOS FTTP roll out.

Corning says the ClearCurve product suite was designed to help overcome the installation challenges in multiple-dwelling units (MDUs) by providing a bend-resistant fiber optimized for the strenuous deployment conditions in apartment buildings and condominium complexes. Verizon qualified the ClearCurve technology for MDU applications following a successful series of field trials, according to Corning.

"This is the year that Verizon moves into high gear in deploying FiOS TV and FiOS Internet to apartment buildings, condos, and similar multiple dwelling units," comments Claire Beth Nogay, senior vice president and chief network officer for Verizon Telecom. "Corning's bendable optical fiber cable is particularly valuable in the tight spaces typical of these sorts of buildings. The ClearCurve rugged drop cable is an initial product in what promises to be a family of specialized bendable fiber products we expect to use across our network going forward."

Corning maintains that its ClearCurve fiber is hundreds of times more bendable than standard singlemode fiber. Featuring the company's nanoStructures technology, the ClearCurve optical fiber is designed to be bent around very tight corners with virtually no signal loss while maintaining backward compatibility. The design of the ClearCurve drop cable enables it to be handled in the same way that copper communication cables are handled, such as pulling through wall studs and stapling to wood.