Multidwelling Unit Solutions | Corning

What is a Multidwelling Unit (MDU) in FTTP?

What is a Multidwelling Unit (MDU) in FTTP?

Multidwelling units (MDUs) come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from high rise buildings, small condos, duplex units, or multiuse properties with a combination of business and residential customers. Other factors such as aesthetics, labor skill levels, and access to rights of way also play a role in the fiber architecture and product selection. No two MDUs are exactly the same in appearance or construction, nor are the MDU solutions for one going to fit into others. We offer a range of MDU solutions to address the wide variety of fiber architectures you may encounter in the field, backed by the expertise we have gathered from numerous global MDU deployments.

MDU Deployment Challenges — Watch below to see what constitutes an MDU in Telecom and what to consider during your MDU fiber installation.

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Flexible Options to Fit Your Telecommunications Needs

Flexible Options to Fit Your Telecommunications Needs

From high-rise buildings to historic brownstones, small condos to work/live lofts – every MDU multi-dwelling unit is different. We’ve innovated a wide range of flexible MDU solutions to address the varying requirements of MDU architectures and environments. Leveraging our field-tested experiences and carrier expertise, we’ll help you find the right mix of connectivity products to build a solution that works for your unique challenges and needs.

Challenges in an MDU Environment

• Every building is different, with unique access, distribution, and routing requirements 

• Existing ducts may be full, unusable, or not continuous

• Limited space in the basement and floors for hardware and cable management 

• Impact on tenants

• Tight timelines and interfacing with builders 

Fiber in the MDU Environment

A. Outside Demarcation Point
Most MDU scenarios will feature a demarcation point outside of the building. 

B. Inside the Basement
Medium- to large-sized buildings often have a dedicated splitter cabinet supporting anywhere from 32 to 864 living units. 

C. At the Floor
Riser cables feed terminals on the floor and serve as the transition point from riser to horizontal cabling. Some buildings require a dedicated terminal on each floor, whereas other buildings can utilize one terminal to service several adjacent floors. 

D. Inside the Living Unit
In large to mid-to-large MDUs, horizontal drop cables run down hallways, providing an access point for subscribers to connect. In small MDUs, drop cables home run to the cabinet/splitter terminal. 

Regardless of the MDU scenario, Corning has your MDU fiber solution

Garden Style

Garden Style

Discrete drop cables home run to each subscriber from a small terminal, often fed from a larger splitter cabinet elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Discrete drop cables home run to each subscriber from a small terminal, often fed from a larger splitter cabinet elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Low-Rise Indoor/Outdoor

Low-Rise Indoor/Outdoor

Low-rise indoor/outdoor MDUs are typical directly fed by low-count feeder fibers and small-form-factor splitter terminals support direct drops to subscribers.

Low-rise indoor/outdoor MDUs are typical directly fed by low-count feeder fibers and small-form-factor splitter terminals support direct drops to subscribers.

High-Rise Indoor

High-Rise Indoor

Fully preconnectorized MTP-based solutions allow for rapid deployment of riser to basement with compact footprint.

Fully preconnectorized MTP-based solutions allow for rapid deployment of riser to basement with compact footprint.

MDU Solutions

MDU Solutions

When it comes to MDUs, there’s no one size fits all answer. You need a customized MDU solution and a collaborator with the expertise to simplify your challenges, so you can focus on delivering the services and applications that your subscribers expect. Download a quick view of MDU solutions or visit our support center where you can reach us to help you with your MDU installation.

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