Clearfield CMO Anis Khemakhem joined us at FiberConnect to share how the company is leading the charge on BABA-compliant fiber solutions. With U.S.-based manufacturing and a certified self-serve guide to BABA compliance, Clearfield has aligned its product suite and supply chain to meet funding and policy requirements. “We’re ready to go,” Khemakhem said. “This doesn’t stop—we keep moving the supply chain forward.” That readiness also extends to deployment strategy: Clearfield’s fiber products prioritize modularity and plug-and-play simplicity, which are critical for rapid rollout, especially in rural areas.
Khemakhem also highlighted Clearfield’s commitment to workforce training. The company offers no-cost training tracks for installers and FOA certification at a nominal fee. In partnership with Built, Clearfield is using 3D interactive manuals to provide digital training experiences—via smartphone, tablet, or even VR—that mirror the preferences of today’s workforce. These immersive guides accelerate installation time and improve knowledge retention. “It’s how the next generation wants to learn,” said Khemakhem. “You see the full model, follow step-by-step instructions, and hear a voiceover—all designed to help teams deploy faster and smarter.” As infrastructure funding kicks into gear, Clearfield is aiming to remove every barrier between planning and deployment.
Alejandro Piñero:
Welcome back, everyone, to FNTV's coverage of Fiber Connect right here in beautiful and warm Nashville, Tennessee. I'm so happy to be at Clearfield's Stand. We found the quiet spot. It's been quite a busy day for you guys, a busy couple of days. Anis Khemakhem, he's a chief marketing officer at Clearfield. Thank you so much for joining us and talking to us today.
Anis Khemakhem:
Thank you for your time.
Alejandro Piñero:
Let's talk about, actually a big topic. I've seen a lot of it here at the show, a lot of discussion around BABA, what the status is, and specifically for you guys here at Clearfield, how do you think about that and how are you planning for it?
Anis Khemakhem:
Yeah, absolutely. It's obviously a major milestone for our industry. As you can see from my shirt, we really have taken the initiative of being ready for BID and for BABA compliance. So we are one of the companies that have self-certified BABA compliance. All of our products are BABA ready, and so we're able to... and we continue, by the way, this doesn't stop. We continue to move our supply chain in the right places. We have facilities in the US, and not only our own facility, but also contract manufacturer and partners that we work with, and we ensure that our products are ready to go. We've started seeing obviously some activity as this on the quoting and so on, but we're really ready to go when all the hurdles and when we can get through the funding to the people who are going to use it.
Alejandro Piñero:
Sure. And you talked there about that next step. You guys are ready to go once the hurdles of funding and all that fun comes through. Tell me a bit about once we get to that point. Obviously there's going to be a focus on speed of that deployment of reliability, everything else that comes through. How do you guys think through that?
Anis Khemakhem:
It's a great point. I mean, we really focus our products, innovation, on speed of deployment. We look at things like modularity, ability to expand, especially for rural carriers. This is an important aspect. And our product design is really, the cornerstone of our product design is speed of deployment and also the flexibility that brings with some of the modularity of our products. So the plug and play concept is something that we have embraced for a long time. A lot of our solutions are plug and play, but we also provide other solutions for different types of deployments. The new products that we are showing is also looking at what is the time for each one of these jobs? What is the time that is being spent in each one of the truck rolls. And how do we minimize that time that's spent in deploying these networks reliably? And so you'll see a lot of products here that are really focused on that concept. Traditionally, the Clearfield cassette has been a staple on this industry and it really uses that mindset and we continue to build upon the same standards there.
Alejandro Piñero:
Awesome. And let me ask you about the other piece of the puzzle here. When it comes to deployment, obviously you've got the tech, you've got kit, but you need folks to actually put it in the ground and get those networks deployed. How are you guys working through that in terms of training and building your workforce that's ready to go?
Anis Khemakhem:
We're firm believers in supporting the industry. And by supporting the industry is really providing some training resources. So we actually have on our website three tracks for training, two of which we do at no cost to our installer base. The idea is really to bring in more talent into this industry and train them the right way. Obviously we utilize Clearfield products, but the idea is really to make sure that fiber optic deployment concepts and methodology is very well effective. There's an understanding, there's a support for the installer base. So we provide two tracks, but we also provide FLA training at a nominal fee. And so we can actually get certified through Clearfield for FLA to be an FLA trainer.
Additionally, we have new tools we partner with BILT, and Clearfield is really invested in this tool. This is the way the next generation of installers learn is really by having digital user manuals essentially. So if you're not familiar with BILT, it's really 3D user manual. It allows you to use a handheld device, a phone, a tablet, or even in certain environments, a VR set, and be able to see the product, walk through the installation process of those products. And that really speeds up that deployment. And it also helps bring in the next generation installers and teach them in a way that they gravitate to more and more.
Personally, when I get something in the mail from, I usually look at the manual and I try to find a YouTube video or another tool. And this does that, really does it because it shows the 3D model of the product that you have, all the components, all the steps that you need to follow, and a voiceover to guide you through it. So it's really a worthwhile investment that we believe in, and we believe that's going to make our end customers deployment more efficient.
Alejandro Piñero:
I have to congratulate you guys for having such a great demonstration here with the VR.
Anis Khemakhem:
Thank you.
Alejandro Piñero:
Yeah, I'm sure [inaudible 00:05:51]
Anis Khemakhem:
Yeah. I encourage you and anybody who's watching to stop by, try it out. It's really worthwhile.
Alejandro Piñero:
Awesome. Well, Anis, thank you so much for taking the time. Always great to chat with you. And good luck with the show.
Anis Khemakhem:
I appreciate it. Thanks for the time.