Does a Crew Have To Dig in My Yard To Install Fiber?

By Katherine Goldman

Not every fiber installation means digging in your yard. There are two different ways that fiber service is wired to your home: underground and aerial. Depending on where you live and how the provider is bringing fiber directly to your home determines the type of installation you’ll have.

Let’s look at how this happens and details on each deployment method.

The fiber planning process

You, the homeowner, don’t have the choice about whether the fiber drop to your home is buried underground or strung by wire from a pole. That decision was made many months before by your local community council, working closely with the fiber provider chosen to do the implementation.

The provider took months to analyze your neighborhood or community and factor in your soil, your infrastructure, your roads, your geography and the location of other utility connections to determine a construction plan for bringing in fiber implementation. After that plan was approved by the local authorities, another more detailed engineering plan was created.

And that’s when these experts weighed the options to build the right implementation plan for your neighborhood. So if some houses near you have aerial installations while some have buried installations, it’s all built into the plan.

Underground installation: the last mile

When your installation is underground a crew chosen by your fiber provider will dig a small trench on your property to bury the line that comes from the street. Before they do this, they’ll mark and protect any other buried utility lines in your yard by working with 811 Call Before You Dig. Those are the little white and yellow flags you might see in yards when people are doing anything from digging for a new deck or planting new trees.

Once the line is brought onto your premises, a technician will install a service box—an Optical Network Terminal—either inside or outside your home. From that connection, the technician will connect the data line to your new router. You’ll have Wi-Fi—and you’ll be running on fast fiber!

Aerial installation: the last mile

An aerial installation will come from a wire strung on a utility pole. Typically, the local power company owns the top of the pole for their lines, and the phone and internet providers own a secondary location.

From a nearby designated utility pole, technicians will follow the prescribed plan to use the pole to string a line right to the outside of your home. From there, they’ll run the wire directly to an Optical Network Terminal—either inside or outside your home. From that connection, the technician will connect the data line to your new router. You’ll have Wi-Fi—and you’ll be running on fast fiber!

Is the installation all done at once?

For some buried installations, the provider may not be able to complete your outside installation in one visit. In that case, a temporary connection will probably be set up so that you’ll have fiber service. They’ll return to bury and complete the process. Check with your provider to find out the particulars of your home’s fiber installation.

Buried or aerial, the results are worth it

Sure, you’ve been anticipating your fiber for a long time—perhaps for six months or more. But your patience will pay off, as once it comes to your home, you’ll have faster internet speed, multiplayer gaming without lag, smoother video calls and enough bandwidth, so everybody in your household can be online doing everything they like to do there all at once.

So, sit tight and you’ll get through the install. Your best life with fiber is on its way!