Electical Contractor

Once the design of a fiber optic project is complete and documented, one might think the bulk of the design work is done. But it’s just beginning. The next step is to plan for the actual installation.

According to Rismedia, a Verizon-commissioned survey titled “Fiber-to-the-Home Advanced Broadband 2007” revealed that broadband connections are in place in the homes of 61 percent of respondents.

Just as we have seen new technologies in optical fibers, new choices of cables are available for fiber optics. With fiber finding more applications, choosing the right cable requires knowing about all the new types as well as the old. Correct answers and explanations are in red text.

The choice of outside plant (OSP) fiber optics components begins with last month’s work: developing the route the cable plant will follow. Once the route is set, it is certain where cables will be run, where splices are located and where the cables will be terminated.

Choosing transmission equipment is the next step in designing a fiber optic network. This step usually will be a cooperative venture involving the customer, who knows which types of data they need to communicate; the designer and installer; and the manufacturers of transmission equipment.

Many years ago, people complained that the most dangerous part of fiber optic work was the chance you might get your eyeballs burned by laser light in the fiber. They had confused optical fibers to the output of high-powered lasers used in labs.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Comcast will begin upgrading its networks by midyear for new DOCSIS 3.0 technology that will dramatically increase Internet connection speeds, and the success of the initiative will determine how aggressive Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Charter Commu

I know I have said enough about industry standards, so this will not be another column on that topic. However, I’m going to recruit you and your customers to create a new standard using a time-proven technique—just doing what makes sense! You see, standards come in two very distinctive varieties.

Recent events have lead me to carefully consider the meaning of standards. I spent more than a dozen hours helping an end-user and a cabling contractor understand what TIA-568 required (and/or allowed) for fiber optic testing.