
April 2025

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INDEX

Newsletter Sections Click on any link to jump to that section

Features
25th Anniversary Of The "Dot-Com Boom"
What's New And Popular On FOA Website

News
What's Read And What's An April Fools' Joke?
Fiction Author On How The World Communicates
Power Consumption Of AI Data Centers
Partnership For Hollow Core Fiber Production
Zayo Acquires Crown Castle Fiber
AI Solves Data Center Powering Problems
I in 4 Programming Jobs Vanish

Technical
Understanding FO Meter Calibration
New Solution For Sealing Ducts
Fiber Optic Ducts And Microducts
What Technical Advisors Are Telling US
Aerial Cable Plant Workmanship
Is SM Fiber Loss Directional
Important Change in Singlemode Fiber
Updated OTDR Trainer

Worth Reading Lots of interesting articles to read, watch or listen to.

Q&A    Interesting questions from our readers

Workforce Training/FiberU
Types Of Work Done By Fiber Techs
FOA-Approved School News
Fiber U MiniCourses

Resources
New FOA Technical Resources

Safety

About the FOA

FOA Certified Techs:

Time To Renew Your FOA Certifications?

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Jobs

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Using your FOA Training/Certification to Find the Right Job in Fiber Optics

Where Are The Jobs In Fiber Optics?

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April 1st Is A Day For Jokes
Sometimes when you read articles, it's hard to tell which are jokes and which are real. So this month in the News Section below we're going to run some stories that might be true, might not. Read them and guess. We'll provide a link at the end for you to check your guesses.

But for now, we want to discuss something much more serious and another reason to be cautious about things you read., hear or see.

The 25th Anniversary Of The "Dot-Com Boom"

Contemplation on the 25th anniversary of the peak of the Internet Bubble. JH, your editor, lived through the whole Dot-Com boom, bubble and bust, so we're speaking from experience.

On March 10th 2000, the value of Internet stocks riding the waves of hype crated by the newly commercialized Internet reached their peak. Soon after that, the "Dot-Com Boom," became the "Dot-Com Bubble" and burst spectacularly. The impact on the technology fields, particularly fiber optics, was devastating.

The NASDAC stock index shows the "Dot-Com Bubble" peaking on March 10, 2000 (Wikipedia)

During the Boom years (1995-2000) perhaps as much as $2 trillion dollars were spent building 80-90 million miles of fiber optic networks, but in 2001 it was estimated that 95% of the fiber was dark, there simply was not enough Internet traffic or revenue being produced to justify the investment. (TED, CNN) Hundreds of companies rode the Boom up and then fell back to Earth; many did not survive. (Wikipedia) This list is missing many of the small fiber optic companies that were affected.

The value of stocks tells the economic story from the macro point of view. From 1995 to March 2000, the value of tech stocks rose by 800% only to fall more than 80% after the bubble burst. Large companies saw their market value rise spectacularly only to fall even more spectacularly. For example, Corning stock was valued at about $12 in 1995, peaked at over $100 in October 2000, only to fall to around $2 in October 2002. (Yahoo Finance.) JDSU (now split into Viavi and Lumentum) went from ~$150 to $2, but is harder to track because of so many acquisitions and stock splits..

More than the stock value was affected by the boom and bubble bursting. Fiber optic companies expanded to fill orders from network builders and service providers rushing to build new fiber optic networks for the Internet. The sales of fiber optic products dropped by 60-80% as many projects came to an abrupt halt. Real numbers are hard to find, but Corning revenue (including steady revenue of about $2 billion of other products than fiber) went from $3.8 billion in 1997 to $7 billion in 2000, with a forecast of $10 billion in 2002. Actual sales for 2002 were $4 billion, about half fiber, so fiber sales dropped about 60-70%. (Forbes, 2002)

The industry suddenly had extreme overcapacity. Companies that had invested heavily in expansion closed or contracted to try to survive; many did not. Corning reportedly laid off 16,000 workers and shut down fiber production for a while. JDSU dropped from ~29,000 to ~5,000. Network developers like Global Crossing, NorthPoint Communications and WorldCom all ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection.

Two important things were lost when the bubble burst - technology and wisdom. Many companies had expected massive sales growth so they started what was popular at the time, outsourcing, mostly to China. When these companies failed, the technology stayed with the Chinese partners; the reason why most fiber optic components and much equipment is now made in China.

The second thing lost was wisdom, the knowledge and experience of many of the pioneers of fiber optics. They were laid off in droves; many if not most were at an age that retirement was an option. The collective wisdom about fiber optics lost probably matches the loss in stock prices, but unlike stock prices it is harder if not impossible to recover. FOA lost many of its founders then too.

What was missing during the Dot-Com Bubble was "killer apps," like Lotus 123 and its predecessor VisiCalc spreadsheets for PCs. The Internet killer apps came much later, in the early 2000s. That's when search engines, shopping, social media and streaming used up the dark fiber and demanded more.

The fiber optic market recovered slowly. The world's telecom networks continued getting built, converting from legacy telecom standards to Internet protocols, often using all the dark fiber installed during the Boom years and enjoying the price drips caused by overcapacity. Verizon boosted the market beginning around 2005 when they started FiOS FTTH. Steve Jobs introduction of the iPhone in 2007 drove the expansion of wireless networks. Streaming really drove the need for fiber, and the pandemic with work/study/everything from home demanded more and more fiber.

Now the demand is based on AI - more on that in a minute.

What Caused The Dot-Com Bubble?
The easy answer is "hype," overselling the idea of the Internet and online activity long before the "killer apps" like search engines, social media and online marketplaces were ready and were irresistible to the public. As a result, an investment frenzy developed but the market did not before the investors backed out. Fiber optic manufacturers were caught up in the frenzy.

Who/what created the hype? Hype comes from several sources. Tech companies pushing their technology or products are masters of hype; they have been for the history of technology, probably since the invention of the printing press, telegraph, telephone, and certainly the Internet.

Those tech companies hype their stuff to get investment more than to sell products or out-hype their competitors. They depend on investments to develop products and bring them to market, of course, but they depend on venture capitalists to not only fund their operations but to create the Wall Street hype needed to take the company public and make them both very rich. That works just fine until the bubble bursts.

Venture capitalists (VCs) are the real masters of hype. They create a frenzy that is self-perpetuating. Once something like the Internet or AI gets started in the hype cycle, it feeds on itself. VCs compete to create "unicorns" companies valued at >$1billion, often based on "smoke and mirrors" instead of anything real. Eventually it leads to IPOs (initial public offerings of stock) that they use to get a giant return on their investments, often taking their profits and leaving the companies to manage on their own. Often that does not turn out well for the companies.

Industry associations are also behind a lot of the tech hype. They hype the overall technology more than individual companies because it allows them to create programs, conferences, and other money-making ventures that fund and build their organizations. During the Dot-Com Bubble, the Optical Fiber Communications conference grew in size almost 10 times, with investors flooding the show floor looking for companies to invest in.

And the trade press, of course. They benefit from the excitement created by hype and the business it generates for them.

Irrational Exuberance
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan coined a new term for hype in a speech about the stock market's meteroic rise during the Dot-Com Bubble: "But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions......."

The Hype Never Stops
How many technologies have we seen hyped in just recent history? "5G" is an excellent example, claiming to provide bandwidth that would solve the world's problems including replace FTTH, The claims were incredible enough to lead to lawsuits and for a Washington Post writer to call them "bullshit," a first for a major newspaper! 5G was a tough sell because estimates of the need for almost $300 billion in fiber infrastructure was too large to justify. Today 5G is boring, with service providers saying 80% of all calls originate on WiFi and WiFi is migrating to emulate cellular functions. Interestingly, 5G did not get the attention of the venture capitalists, since it mostly involved old line telcos and their traditional suppliers.

The US government BEAD program is another subject of hype over the last few years. The hype has already caused one bubble and the whole program may fade away for the fiber optic industry due to politics.

Right now there's Artificial Intelligence, AI. AI may be setting records for hype; it certainly is setting records for investment. $ billions are being invested where $ millions were a few years ago. In part that's because of the level of hype and the investment required in hyperscale data centers and connectivity over fiber, but also because investors are overflowing with money from billionaires created by earlier waves of hype and they all want to get on the AI bandwagon before it's too late.

Many fiber companies are buying the AI hype. Hyperscale data centers use hundreds of thousands of fiber links and data centers need large bandwidth low latency connections. But who's going to lose if AI turns out to be just hype?

The cracks in the AI hype are already beginning to show. As we were writing this an article showed up in Forbes titled "Is The AI Boom Headed For Its Dark Fiber' Moment?" The business magazine was wondering if the AI Boom is another Bubble like the Dot-Com "Dark Fiber" bubble.

The key factor in AI is this from the Forbes article: "Then there’s the question of ROI because the economics of AI still don’t quite add up." (ROI = return on investment)

“The reality is that the revenue from selling actual AI products to a customer is still minuscule compared to the magnitude of the capex invested… We have invested almost half a trillion dollars and are still only getting around $10–20 billion of actual product sales off of that investment.”

Another article in he New York Times, "The Tech Fantasy That Powers A.I. Is Running on Fumes." by Tressie McMillan Cottom, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science warns us about the hype over AI. Especially interesting is this:

"That is the big danger of hyping mid tech. Hype isn’t held to account for being accurate, only for being compelling. Mark Cuban exemplified this in a recent post on the social media platform Bluesky. He imagined an A.I.-enabled world where a worker with “zero education” uses A.I. and a skilled worker doesn’t. The worker who gets on the A.I. train learns to ask the right questions and the numbskull of a skilled worker does not. The former will often be, in Cuban’s analysis, the more productive employee.

The problem is that asking the right questions requires the opposite of having zero education. You can’t just learn how to craft a prompt for an A.I. chatbot without first having the experience, exposure and, yes, education to know what the heck you are doing. The reality — and the science — is clear that learning is a messy, nonlinear human development process that resists efficiency. A.I. cannot replace it."

What AI is missing is the "killer app." Claiming to do everything is not a killer app and reports of AI problems like hallucinating (making things up) make one wonder if it can be trusted in many applications (medicine and law have already seen problems.)

Fiber doesn't need over-hyped projects like AI and BEAD to have healthy growth. Fiber has had quite a few killer apps like search engines, social media, and streaming, but the real reason is more fundamental. Fiber is still the fastest, least expensive way to move information and we live in an information-hungry society..

More Worrying News - Quoted From ISE Magazine

Trueline Infrastructure Shuts Down After Only Five Months
"Not long ago, we were reporting on a new company formed by Grain Management called Trueline Infrastructure, a merging of some firms to form a fiber construction company ready to answer the demand for building and expanding fiber broadband infrastructure across the U.S.

In news that came as a shock to many of us, the new venture is shutting down after only about five months, with nearly all of the approximately 300 employees laid off.

Under the leadership of Grain Management, Atlantic Engineering Group, Fiber Optic Services and Young’s Communications joined to form Trueline.

Grain Management clearly saw an opportunity in the predicted expansion of fiber infrastructure, particularly with BEAD subsidies driving many new rural deployments.

But there were troubling signs, according to people in the company.

A major contract was dropped, and one former employee was quoted in Fierce Telecom saying he had a full warehouse and staff ready to go but there was no work "

Comment: This sounds exactly like the Dot-Com Boom era. During the Dot-Com era, this was called a "roll-up." Investment companies like Grain Management would contact companies in the fiber optic business and try to make a deal. The investment company would create a bigger company by "rolling-up" smaller private companies into a larger one and take them public, letting the owners gain riches from their companies. Contractors were a prime target, as were small fiber optic manufacturers.

The problem with roll-ups was the investors would get the profits at the IPO by selling out then but the owners of the businesses would have to wait some time to sell their stock. As far as I remember, none of these deals worked out well for business owners, many lost everything.

This is the first instance I know about in the current time, and it is disturbing. But the fact that is was shut down before really getting started is indicative of the status of the real fiber optic market, not the hype we hear so much.

Words to Ponder
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!" (George Santayana in1905). In a 1948 speech to the House of Commons, Winston Churchill changed the quote slightly when he said (paraphrased), “those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”

More Reading:
List of companies affected by the Dot-Com bubble bursting on Wikipedia, missing many smaller fiber optic companies.

Jeff Hecht Writes about the bubble and the industry - a good history of the times.

Is The AI Boom Headed For Its ‘Dark Fiber’ Moment? After the dot-com bust, dreams of internet bandwidth tripling every few months quickly unraveled, exposing massive overinvestment in fiber. As demand for fiber collapsed, so did the companies that built it. Forbes

The dot-com bubble peaked 25 years ago this week. Are investors falling into the same trap today?
The Nasdaq-100 took more than 15 years to return to its dot-com-era peak. One investor who saw the crash coming sees echoes in today’s AI craze. Marketwatch.

The Dot-Com Bubble Peaked 25 Years Ago Today. What the Crash Taught Investors. (Answer: NOT MUCH I guess, ed) "Last, but not least, it is worth remembering that bubbles are simply a feature of the market landscape. Investors are certain to encounter such episodes every handful of years, with more minor bubbles than major ones." MSN

Classroom Resources For STEM Teachers In K-12 And Technical Schools
Here is the POF kit sent to teachers for demonstration.

Teachers in all grades can introduce their students to fiber optic technology with some simple demonstrations. FOA has created a page for STEM or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) teachers with materials appropriate to their classes. Fiber Optic Resources For STEM Teachers.

FOA also has a YouTube Video on "Careers in Fiber Optics" and a "Careers In Fiber Optics" Website.

What Is An FOA Credential?
As FOA celebrates our 100,000th CFOT® certified technician, introduces the "FOA Badge In Fiber Optics" for others working in the field and adds new courses at Fiber U which offer a "Certificate of Completion," it's a good time to explain the differences between them. FOA has created a page to explain the differences in certifications, certificated and badges.

All FOA Certification Credentials Are Now Online
All FOA Certified Fiber Optic Technicians now have their certification credentials online.
if your FOA certification has not expired you should have been notified you have an online credential. If you did not get notification it may be because FOA did not have a valid email for you. Contact FOA to inquire about your certification credential.

And now, introducing a new FOA credential: The "FOA Badge In Fiber Optics"
An industry-wide credential for professionals working in fiber optics

FOA is best known as the certifying body for the nearly 100,000 FOA-certified fiber optic technicians who build worldwide networks. FOA has been asked many times about credentials for other professionals in fiber optics.

Besides the technicians that design, build and operate the fiber optic networks the world uses for communications, there are many other professionals that are essential for the success of the fiber optic and cabling industries. These professionals manufacture, sell and distribute fiber optic components or plan and manage the projects that include fiber optics.

For everyone working in the fiber optic field. FOA now offers the new FOA Badge in Fiber Optics.

Go here for more information on the FOA Badge in Fiber Optics

New Fiber U Course: Fiber Optic Safety Covers Construction And Installation

This new Fiber U course focuses on safety in fiber optic installation. There are two lessons in this course, fiber optic construction and fiber optic installation. The dividing line between the two courses is the installation of the fiber optic cables. Construction leads up to and/or is completed when the cables are installed. Installation begins when the fiber tech installs the cable, then completes the splicing, termination testing and documentation. The overlap between the two is the installation of the cables where both construction personnel and fiber optic techs are involved.

Here is the new Fiber U "Fiber Optic Safety" self-study program. Take the course and get your certificate of completion.

Enhance your safety with the FOA Safety Vest.

We bought one ourselves - it's well made and distinctive.

New Edition of FOA's Basic Fiber Optics Textbook

It has been 5 years since we have updated the FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics, so it is certainly time for an update. The latest version is different enough we call it a new edition. Many of the updates are for new technologies which are reshaping the fiber optic industry like coherent transmission, BI fibers, etc. We've also added a section on the fiber optic workforce which has much relevance because this book is used to train those entering the workforce. We've also worked on making the book more readable, adding formatting that eases reading and a new comprehensive index.

Inflation was an issue, but the price only goes up $2 to $29.95 for the paperback and $12.95 for the Kindle version.

The new edition of the FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics is available from Amazon and booksellers worldwide.

New/Updated Web Pages

FOA Credentials: the differences in certifications, certificated and badges.

Satellite Communications

OSP Aerial Construction Workmanship

Splices And Connections Of Regular to BI Singlemode FIbers.

Fiber Optic Safety - Installation and Construction.

Fiber Optic Network Troubleshooting.

Books

FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics, Second Edition, second edition of the basic fiber textbook.

The Fiber Optic Association Guide To Fiber Broadband Is A Hit With Broadband Planners Paperback ($12.95) and Kindle ($9.95) versions available from Amazon or most booksellers. Kindle version is in color!

New In The FOA Guide - Introduction To Broadband and Guidelines For Fiber Optic Project Planners

FOA Guide To The Fiber Optic Workforce - what we've learned in developing the fiber optic workforce over more than a quarter century and almost 100,000 certified techs.

Cross Reference Guide to Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U    FOA Videos Guide.

FOA has a web page with resources on fiber broadband and the IIJA/BEAD funding programs.

FOA Newsletter Sections

News    Technical    Worth Reading    Q&A    Training/FiberU    Resoures    Safety About

News

Lots more news in Worth Reading below

April 1st Is A Day For Jokes -

But Can You Tell Which Are Jokes And Which Are Real?

It is traditional to use April 1st - April Fool's day - as a day to create jokes, the more outrageous but believable the better. One of the best for the fiber optic community was Google TISP - the first Google fiber to the home offering, where they mail you a package with a fiber optic cable that you install yourself by flushing it down your toilet! Amazing how many people believed that one was real!

Sometimes when you read articles, it's hard to tell which are jokes and which are real. So this month here in the News Section we have some stories that might be true, might not. Read them and guess. We'll provide a link at the end of each article for you to check your guess.

What's The Origin of "April Fools' Day"?

Author Of Adventure Book Learns How To Sabotage Worldwide Communications
In a short column, a fiction author writes one of the best explanations of the world's communications systems we have ever read and examines its vulnerabilities.

The FOA Newsletter has covered many stories in the last few months about suspected sabotage of undersea cables, but in a contribution in the Los Angeles Times by fiction author Colum McCann tells what he learned researching communications, particularly undersea cables, for his new book Twist.

(Ander Gillenea / AFP via Getty Images) in LA Times)

Here is what McCann has to say:

In the early days of the pandemic, I began pondering the idea of healing. I stumbled upon a story about a cable repair vessel, the Leon Thevenin, which had attended to a cable break off the west coast of Africa. The cable, which had broken deep at sea, had caused an alarming and potentially fatal slowdown in internet connections in western and southern Africa.

The break seemed like a reasonable metaphor for our fractured times: The cable had snapped during an oceanic landslide precipitated by huge floods in the Congo River. It took the ship more than a month to find the rupture and complete the repair. The idea of a cable carrying all our data under the sea appeared to me, at the time, to be a touch anachronistic in this, our digital age. After all, everything on my computer seemed to live in the cloud.

Advertisements suggested that my phone shot its information upward, celestially, then bounced it back down to earth. My night sky was peppered with moving satellites. Even my printer was wireless. However, I was soon to learn that most of our information actually does move along the cold wet floors of our silent seas, and that the cables were far more vulnerable than I could have imagined. In fact, I — a virtual Luddite — was able, over the course of three years of research, to imagine a reasonable plan that could take down a good chunk of the world’s internet.

You MUST read the entire piece here in the LA Times.

About Twist

An “urgent [and] ingenious” (The New York Times Book Review) novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean—from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin

“The spirit of Joseph Conrad hovers over the text, but here the heart of darkness lies at the bottom of the ocean.”—Salman Rushdie

US National Lab Estimates Power Consumption From AI Data Centers

The graph tells it all....

Read the entire article on this topic in the NYTimes

Relativity Networks and Prysmian Partner for Production of Hollow-Core FIbers
Prysmian, has entered into a partnership agreement with Relativity Networks, the leading provider of next-generation fiber-optic technology, for volume production of the hollow-core optical fiber and cable in demand by operators of the data centers required for the AI economy. This collaboration will see Prysmian and Relativity Networks co-manufacture fiber and cable based on Relativity Networks’ hollow-core fiber (HCF) technology,

Hollow-core fiber transmits data nearly 50% faster when compared with the conventional fiber-optic cable long in use by the data industry and enables data to travel 1.5 times farther without impacting the latency that can throw intricate multi-location data operations and applications out of sync.
Relativity Networks anti-resonant hollow-core fiber technology was developed in collaboration with the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida. Leveraging Prysmian’s global manufacturing expertise, the companies will work together to transition the industry to hollow-core fiber technology. In addition, Relativity Networks will provide connectors and hardware that ensure compatibility with existing fiber-optic interfaces.

As part of this long-term partnership, Prysmian will manufacture Relativity Networks’ HCF fiber at a dedicated facility located in Prysmian’s production center in Eindhoven, Netherlands. This strategic production site will enable the companies to meet the growing global demand for innovative optical fiber solutions, ensuring that data centers and AI applications benefit from cutting-edge fiber-optic technology.

Read more from Prysmian.

Zayo acquires Crown Castle’s fiber solutions group for $4.25B
Zayo is again on the acquisition hunt, reaching a deal to purchase Crown Castle’s Fiber Solutions business for about $4.25 billion. It will add approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber to Zayo’s network and increase its overall reach to more than 70,000 on-net locations. Zayo sees Crown Castle’s metro-focused fiber assets as extending its reach into key geographies.

Zayo was backed with financing from DigitalBridge and EQT—two venture capital firms that have been assisting various providers making fiber network deals. An interesting aspect of the deal was the price of fiber route miles; $42.5B for 90,000 route miles is only $47,000 per mile, typically less than the cost of construction. This analysis doesn't include other unknown assets or liabilities assumed by Zayo.

Read More in Lightwave.

AI Reconfigures Data Center Powering, Taps Wasted Heat For Greater Than 100% Efficiency

AI originally suggested the idea of powering data centers using fusion power when it's decades (centuries?) from reality, restarting a Three Mile Island reactor and using small nuclear reactors in every data center for power. All those ideas proved impossible, a problem with past AI prone to hallucinations. Now a new AI focused on thermodynamics called "KELVIN" has solved the energy consumption problem by redesigning the data center to not only use less power, but actually produce power so excess power that can be used to provide power even outside the data center.

Prototype AI-designed KELVIN heat exchanger

By redesigning the data center systems and adding heat exchangers designed by KELVIN, data center operators to use the heat produced by all the electronics to generate electricity to power the data center and sell excess power to the electric grid. The systems are so efficient that it can capture heat from workers' hot coffee and even their body heat (about 25 watts for a typical worker). Data centers using copper cables instead of fiber optics are even better. The heat generated from sending high speed signals on copper wires can be captured to make the data center a source of power for the outside world. One data center has already used this power to charge the workers' EVs while they are working in the center.

Read More.

1 in 4 programming jobs have vanished. What happened?
A big jump in unemployment for programmers since 2022 may be the first sign that artificial intelligence is taking human jobs.

More than a quarter of computer-programming jobs just vanished. What happened? Learning to code was supposedly the salvation of millions of liberal art majors. But now programming jobs are plummeting. The Washington Post’s Department of Data tries to figure out what’s going on.

Read More

Quote Of The ~~Month~~/Year (maybe Century!) (this is worth repeating)

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, AT&T’s CEO John Stankey said, “There’s a fallacy to say there’s fixed networks and wireless networks. There are only fiber networks with different access technologies on the end of them. That’s where this is all going.”

Technical

Fiber optic technology, standards, equipment, installation, etc.

The FOA Update Page covers the new technology and applications we covered in this newsletter recently. Now you can review all that new tech at once.

Cross Reference To FOA Technical Reference Materials

The FOA has almost 1,000 pages of technical information on the FOA Guide, 100+ videos and two dozen online courses at Fiber U, all this can make it difficult to find the right information.

Cross Reference To FOA Tech Materials
To help this, we have created a cross reference guide to the textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U courses, all the FOA technical information. Besides the textbooks, online Guide and Fiber U, each section of the Guide also includes links to the 100+ FOA videos available.
Cross Reference Guide to Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U
FOA Videos
We have also rearranged the 100+ FOA videos in similar categories on the Contents Page of the Online Guide, making the videos, especially the lectures, much it much easier to find a video on a particular topic.
FOA Videos Guide.

Want to know more about fiber optics? Study for FOA certifications? Free Self-Study Programs are on Fiber U®

Understanding Calibration Of Fiber Optic Instruments

A contractor recently contacted FOA with a technical question. He was working on a project where he was measuring the output of a fiber optic network with his optical power meter. Another worker at the job site has a different meter and his meter reading was more than 10 dB different. How could that happen?

The first thing we asked was if both were measuring in dBm. Power meters measure in dBm (dB referenced to 1 milliwatt) for measuring the actual optical power output of a transmitter or input of a receiver, but they also have the ability to measure in dB, a relative scale used for loss measurement. If one of the meters was set on dBm and the other on dB, the measurements would likely not agree. He had checked that already and both were set on the dBm scale for power measurement.

Then I asked if both were set to the same wavelength. Fiber optic power meters have detectors sensitive to the wavelength of light being measured so the calibration is different at each wavelength, although that could not make a 10 dB difference. He had checked this and they were the same.

The next thing I asked was what instruments, brand and type, each was using. His was a well-known brand of optical power meter, while the other tech’s power meter was a bright orange and green inexpensive imported power meter like those sold online.

You are probably expecting me to say you cannot trust one of those cheap imports, but no, we have tested a number of them, and they work quite well for measuring loss. However, many have a design flaw that can cause a problem just like this.

The problem is calibration. All of the inexpensive meters we tested have an option to allow the owner to calibrate the instrument themselves. Push a couple of buttons and you can make the dBm scale read anything you want it to. That violates every law of calibration!

Calibration instructions for the meter shown above

Calibration means that an instrument has been tested against a standard and set up to make measurements traceable to that standard. Within the limits of instrument and measurement uncertainty, your instrument should measure with the same value as the standard and every other instrument calibrated to that standard.

An instrument should be calibrated regularly by a certified calibration lab with a transfer standard traceable to a national standard. The calibration lab should put a sticker on the instrument indicating the date of calibration that will show tampering if the instrument is opened up and the calibration invalidated.

I’m very aware of the details of calibrating optical power for fiber optics. When I started a fiber optic test company during the early days of fiber optics, there was no standard for optical power calibration. When we ran into calibration problems like this on an early military project, I had the military customer help me convince the US National Bureau of Standards (NBS), now called the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to start a program for this purpose. I worked with NBS to create a system that is still used today to provide international calibration of optical power meters.

The calibration of optical power meters is simple. You have a transfer standard which is a laboratory grade optical power meter to use to compare to the instrument being calibrated. Since the calibration of power meters is wavelength sensitive, you also have sources of known wavelengths to use for calibrating power. Measure the source with the standard meter then with the meter being calibrated, compare the results and adjust the meter being calibrated to read the same as the standard meter.

Every instrument, especially optical power meters, should be periodically calibrated. These inexpensive power meters provide no information on their traceable calibration so are questionable for making power measurements. If you have one of them and a name brand meter that is calibrated properly, you can set the other to read the same as the calibrated meter. However, you need to check it against a calibrated meter periodically to ensure no one has hit the wrong buttons and changed the calibration.

Many calibration labs can calibrate fiber optic power meters. The other fiber optic instrument that needs calibration is the OTDR, optical time domain reflectometer. Calibrating OTDRs is more complicated than power meters because you have several parameters to calibrate and several setup parameters in the OTDR that can affect the calibration.

Next month, we will cover calibrating OTDRs.

Read more in the FOA Guide:

Fiber Optic Instruments - Power Meters

Measuring Optical Power

Calibration And Uncertainty of Fiber Optic Power Meters

Polywater's new ZipSeal solution for sealing small ducts, conduits, and tight spaces

This new version of ZipSeal has been reformulated to gel quicker and hold more water head pressure than the original version. Additionally, it is now packaged in a 25ml syringe for a toolless installation.

“Our FST and AFT duct sealants are industry standards when it comes to high performing, reliable seals in 2” and larger ducts,” said Jake Jonnes, Executive Vice President at Polywater. “What we’ve been looking for is the same high standard sealant for smaller ducts. And our R&D team nailed it with this new formulation of ZipSeal!”

The syringe package makes this a quick and easy installation without the need for a specialty tool.
Whether a contractor is sealing ducts to meet code, or to protect the network, Polywater has a solution.

More information about the new ZipSeal, visit Polywater® ZipSeal™ Foam Sealant System - Polywater

Fiber Optic Ducts and Microducts

Vladimir Grozdanovic

Underground cable installation in ducts can be done with either standard ducts or microducts. Optical cables are installed in the ducts by pulling or blowing/jetting. Ducts can be characterized into the following types:

•    Main PVC (polyvinyl chloride) duct, also called conduit, with a diameter of 100–110 mm, in which smaller ducts for individual cables are installed,
•    Standard HDPE (high-density polyethylene) ducts or sub-ducts with diameters ranging from 18 to 63 mm (40 or 50 mm are common sizes),
•    Micro HDPE ducts with diameters ranging from 3 to 16 mm
•    Microduct Bundles(tight, loose, round or flat ducts).

Ducts can either be directly buried or installed within existing larger-diameter ducts. The main difference between standard ducts/sub-ducts and microducts is their diameter. Over the past 20 years, both ducts and cables have become smaller to allow installing more fibers or cables in the same ducts.
Using microducts reduces construction costs and increases the capacity of underground installations.

Read more in the FOA Guide page.

What FOA's Instructors And Technical Advisors Are Telling Us

In the October FOA Newsletter we ran a long illustrated feature article offering guidelines for aerial cable plant installation, illustrated by some "excellent" bad examples. That article elicited quite a few comments, especially from the instructors at some of our FOA schools around the world, and led to some discussions with others in our field, including manufacturers. Several topics seem to warrant further discussion, so we thought it would be interesting to share some of our notes and encourage more inputs before we cover the topics in detail in future issues of the newsletter.

Here are some of the topics of the comments. Some, we promise, are controversial! Feel free to comment.

Aerial Cable Plant

Do people still use aerial cable plants? The problems aerial cables have with weather make them unreliable and not cheaper when they have to be repaired after damage during disasters. Many areas around the world are putting all new cables underground.
Some areas don't use messenger wires on aerial cables because of the problems with lightning strikes. Others complain about the weight of the messengers causing strain on the poles. They use ADSS cable instead. ADSS cable is easier and faster to install, even costs less.
Why are ADSS cables still mainly marketed to electrical utilities? They are popular with utilities because they can be installed closer to power conductors, but they also make sense if you are installing new fiber optic cables, especially in rural areas, maybe anywhere.
Who allows cables to be installed with such poor workmanship? Don't the cables get inspected before they are accepted?

Pulling vs. Blowing Cables

Microcables and microducts are becoming more widely used so cables are being blown into ducts not pulled.
Microcables now include cables with more fibers, making them a choice for most installations.
Microducts are easier to install, even possible in currently used ducts, and easy to include multiple ducts for future expansion.
Microducts are not just for microtrenching. Their small size allows multiple ducts to be placed when only a single typical duct would be placed, simplifying the "Dig Once" policy (installing extra ducts whenever doing underground construction.

Microtrenching vs. Directional Boring

It seems some users prefer directional boring as less disruptive.
Malibu, CA just installed ~7.5 miles (12 km) of duct along the Pacific Coast Highway by directional boring.

Flexible vs. Hard Ribbon Cable

Some cable manufacturers have said traditional hard ribbons are obsolete and future cables will be flexible ribbon cables.
There are so many hard ribbon cables already installed that the need to know how to prepare and splice them will not go away.
Some contractors say they prefer hard ribbons which they claim are are easier to splice.
We've also been told that some flexible ribbons are easier to work with than others. Likewise fusion splicers.

There is a lot there, isn't there? It provides us lots of topics for investigation and future articles. Should all cables be made like microcables? Should all cables above a certain number of fibers be flexible ribbons? Should all aerial cables be ADSS? Who makes the "best" fusion splicer or other tools? None of these questions have "black or white" answers, but all merit discussion.

What topics do YOU think should be added to this list? Let FOA Know.

Watch the future FOA Newsletters for more coverage about these issues.

Aerial Cable Plant Workmanship

Read the recently updated FOA Guide sections Aerial Cable Installation and Aerial Cable Plant Workmanship. and see FOA Guidelines for Aerial Cable Installation.

Is It Just The OTDR Or Is Singlemode Loss Really Directional?

Our series of articles on the compatibility and splicing of G.652 and G.657 summarized below and explained fully here raised another question from a knowledgeable reader.

"When you do a bidirectional OTDR test and average, you remove the backscatter differences. But it seems to me that two fibers of different MFDs would have an actual directional loss difference, much like mismatched MM fiber. Do you have any information that addresses this?"

One of FOA's technical contacts at a fiber manufacturer gave us this explanation. "With singlemode fibers there is simply one mode. The loss is simply the overlap of the modes in the two fibers and is the same in either direction since only one mode propagates and all other modes are cladding modes." So there you have it -

Singlemode splices showing different losses in bidirectional losses are just a artifact of how the OTDR tests

Averaging the loss in the two directions gives the actual splice loss

The actual splice loss the same in either direction.

Read the explanation of OTDR directional differences in the FOA Guide page on OTDRs.

A Quiet But Important Change In The Fiber Optic Cable You Buy
With so many cable designs today, like microcables or high fiber count cables, requiring bend-insensitive fibers, would it make sense to make all or most singlemode fibers as bend insensitive fiber?

Two manufacturers (Corning and OFS) told FOA the industry is moving towards a G.657.A specification in fiber, because the industry is moving towards smaller denser cables in the network & the bend resilience is a requirement for the cable design. So singlemode fiber is moving to being BI fiber, exactly what happened with 50/125 laser optimized fibers a decade ago. With most new fiber, compatibility is not an issue. But it is recommended to check with the cable manufacturer if you are not sure what fiber is being used in the cable you are purchasing.

Read the entire FOA report on compatibility of G.652 and G.657 singlemode fiber that includes this summary.

Sponsored Content

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We have partnerships with industry leading manufacturers to support your installation, splicing and testing needs. Our goal is to guide, support and recognized our client’s requirements.

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Updated FOA OTDR Trainer

FOA has rewritten the FOA OTDR Trainer around Fiberizer. The Fiberizer PC software was the version we used for creating the Trainer, but the basic techniques apply to all versions of Fiberizer. FOA provides a folder of sample traces in 3 categories - Parameter Traces, Sample Traces and PON Traces - around which we build the trainer. If you set up Fiberizer, you can complete the FOA OTDR Trainer lessons and then use the same software to analyze other traces you may have, even from other brands of OTDRs, as long as they are .sor files.

The FOA OTDR Trainer is ready to help you learn about OTDRs. Go to the OTDR Trainer page,
tech/ref/testing/OTDR/OTDRsimulator.html, choose your version of Fiberizer, download the FOA Traces and you are ready to go.

FOA wishes to thank VeEX for permission to use their Fiberizer® software in our OTDR trainer. And our compliments to them for making the ap available on multiple platforms that ensure anybody can use it.

How Good Are Your OTDR Launch/Receive Cables?
FOA received an inquiry about some OTDR traces that showed failures. Quite a few fibers failed at the final connection to the receive cable, indicating that there could be a problem with the connection - dirt of a bad connector on the receive cable. Have you checked the connectors on your OTDR - or OLTS - reference cables recently? You should inspect and clean them regularly - every few connections - to ensure they are good. If they are bad, they will cause false failures on the cable under test.

NECA/FOA 301 fiber optic installation standard withdrawn
The NECA/FOA 301 fiber optic installation standard has been withdrawn. It's almost a quarter century old and a decade since the last update. It has been decided the standard needs to be replaced with a more modern document covering current technology and written in a format that allows easier updating.

In the meantime, there is lots of useful information in the standard and you can still download a free copy from FOA.

Download your free copy of ANSI/NECA/FOA-301 here (PDF)

FTTH Technical Papers

FOA contributor Vladimir Grozdanovic has created these technical papers based on his field experiences.

Fiber Optic Ducts And Microducts

Fiber Optic Tools

Optical Distribution Frames (ODFs) And Patch Panels

Using Fiber Identifiers

Testing The FTTH PON Network (new)

Troubleshooting PON Installations.

Installation of FTTH Active Equipment in the FOA Guide.

Optical Splitters in the FOA Guide.

Examples of poor installation of FTTH in the aerial outside plant and in the customer premises.

Recycling Fiber Optic Cables? Contact LD4 Recycle

Learning Important Information From A Found Cable Scrap

While walking down the street near the FOA office, we found this cable laying in the gutter. What a find! A short length of Corning Rocket Ribbon 864 fiber cable left over from an installation by a contractor.

We brought the cable back to our office with the intention of opening it up and creating a video about the construction of this modern high fiber count cable, but something got our attention first. The cable had a very long line of printing on it with lots of interesting and useful information. So before we started deconstructing it, we decided to photograph the printed information and interpret it. That turned out to be an important part of the information we learned from the cable. Then, as you will see below, we dissected the cable and learned even more.

Red more about what this cable marking tells you and what the cable looks like when you open it up to prepare for splicing.

Managing Fiber Optic Projects - The Gantt Chart

(With An Excel File To Make Your Own)

The most common way to track projects is the Gantt Chart, a chart of activities that tracks the progress of projects along a timeline. each activity is represented by a bar and the position and length of the bar represents the starting date and duration of the activity. This allows you to see what activities are needed for the project, when the activities start and end so it can be used to track the progress of the project visually. Here is what a Gantt Chart for a fiber project might look like:

You might remember an article in the FOA Newsletter in April 2022 or the FOA Guide page on Project Management about the timing of a fiber optic project where we showed the progression of steps in a project like this:

The Gantt Chart is simply this list converted to a Gantt Chart using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You can download a copy of the FOA Gantt Chart spreadsheet (xlsx file - 16kB) and use it to create your own Gantt Chart for any project. All you have to do is to input your own data and change the activity names as necessary. You can also follow the directions from Microsoft to create your own version.

Help On Color Codes (Including Copper Cabling And Fiber Optics)

The FOA has created a print-your-own pocket guide to fiber optic color codes. It has color codes for fibers and buffer tubes, connectors and premises cables inside and on the back, QR codes to take you directly to the FOA Guide and Fiber U. The FOA Guide page on Fiber Optic Color Codes is one of the most read pages on the FOA website and the Fiber Optic Color Codes minicourse on Fiber U very popular also.

Here are the links to download your own FOA Guides to Fiber Optic Color Codes
FOA Guide to Fiber Optic Color Codes (print your own version) PDF
FOA Guide to Fiber Optic Color Codes (electronic version for your smartphone, tablet or PC) PDF

And Color Codes For UTP Cabling
FOA Guide to UTP Cabling Color Codes (print your own version) PDF
FOA Guide to UTP Copper Cabling Color Codes (electronic version) PDF

Warning For Techs Doing OSP Restoration

FOA received an inquiry about whether techs working on restoring OSP links should be concerned about eye safety if the link used fiber amplifiers. To answer this question, we had to do some research on fiber amplifiers. The short answer is YES, you should be concerned. The long answer is more technical and includes details that every OSP tech needs to know.

See "Fiber Amps And Restoration" in the FOA Newsletter Archives..

Try The FOA's Online Loss Budget Calculator

FOA has written many articles about loss budgets, something everyone involved in fiber optics needs to know and needs to know how to calculate. We've created a online Loss Budget Calculator that does the work for you. Just input your cable plant data and it calculates the loss budget. It works on any device, especially smartphones and tablets for field use and even allows printing the results.

Bookmark this page (especially on your smartphone): FOA Loss Budget Calculator Online



Worth Reading

Each month we read hundreds of newsletters and online articles. These are the ones we think you will find "worth reading."

FOA has a web page with resources on fiber broadband networks and the IIJA/BEAD funding programs.

Cross Reference Guide to FOA Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U

FOA Timeline of Fiber Optic History and the new FOA video "The History Of Fiber Optics"

AT&T PR photo from the mid 1970s

The FOA's History

Stories From The Past FOA Newsletters

Last Gasp For Multimode Fiber?
Who Lost Lucent? The Decline of America's Telecom Industry.

How Many Fibers? Optimal cable Size.
Women Installers In Alaska. .
Building Rural FTTH - Learning From The History Of Rural Electrification.
Warning For Techs Doing Restoration (Fiber Amplification).

The Future Of Work Is Skills - So Stop Worrying About Degrees - The reality is the future of work is about skills, not just degrees. (FOA Newsletter Feb 2020)

Recent articles from The FOA Newsletter
Fake OTDR Traces Submitted For Testing Documentation January 2023 Tech
Using OTDRs To Test Transoceanic Cables And PONs February 2023
POF - the Other Fiber March 2023
What Do Employers Expect From A Fiber Optic Tech? April 2023
Are Standards Ignoring The OSP? May 2023
FOA Has Proven Results In Fiber Optic Workforce Development June 2023
BEAD Funding For States Announced And Analyzed July 2023
Wisdom From The Street (Analyzing the printing on a fiber optic cable) July 2023
Focus On Disasters August 2023
FOA's Role In Education and Work Done By Fiber Techs September 2023
The Workforce: New US DoL Bureau of Labor Statistics Telecom Tech Category October 2023
How Many Telecom Techs Do We Need and How Big Is The Fiber Optic Market November 2023
Guidelines For Fiber Optic Project Planners December 2023
2023 Year In Review. Kentucky Shows The Value Of Fiber January 2024.
What is Broadband? History of the Cable Modem February 2024
It's Just Economics. Things you need to know. March 2024.

Fiber To The Shore - Undersea cables along the coast April, 2024.
The Future Of The Fiber Tech May 2024.

Worth Reading (And Watching Or Listening):

March

Microsoft plans shutdown of internet calling pioneer Skype - CNN
Skype was an a pioneer in live video calling that was bought by Microsoft in 2011, but was later overtaken by competing services.

Meta announces plans for longest-ever subsea cable project - Developing Teleocms

Successful Fiber Cable Install Under the Hudson River - MaxCell

FCC Trying To Ease Copper Retirement For Telcos - ISE Magazine

Signal Chat App: - Washington Post - The Tech Friend The Atlantic’s disclosures show that using Signal is not ironclad protection from surveillance, leaking or unwanted guests in your private messages.

Feinman sounds alarm following departure as director of BEAD - Broadband Communities

Last Chance For BEAD - Broadband Communities

Jon Stewart expresses dismay at BEAD bureaucracy - Broadband Communities - YouTube video interview with Ezra Klein of NY TImes.

Le Rôle de l’Arc Initial dans la Fusion de Fibres Optiques : Une Étape Clé pour de bonnes fusions (The Role of the Initial Arc in Optical Fiber Fusion: A Key Step for Successful Fusions) Serge Rodrigue, Fibre ZOne, Quebec, Canada (in French on LinkedIn)

Previously:

The Fiber Optic Association Reaches Milestone - ISE Magazine
FOA certifies over 100,000 fiber optic technicians.

2024 Optical Fiber Reference Guide - M2 Optics A comprehensive list of single mode and multimode optical fibers currently available from several of the world’s leading manufacturers. Very useful.

The State Of Fiber Optics In The Utility Industry - Utility Expo

Podcast
Telecommunications Industry Therapy Podcast: Future of The Fiber Optic Network
JULY 10, 2024 by Scott Stekr and Michelle Kang of Telecommunications Industry Forum interview Jim Hayes, President of The Fiber Optic Association to provide clarification on what fiber optic networks are, who builds them, and what the FOA is doing to help train and grow the workforce.

Deep Dives (Takes a while to read but worth it)

Investing In Fiber Optic Networks -Hexatronic - not like venture capital investing, but how financial decisions in network design may have big effects on the total cost of a network.

VIAVI "NITRO" Fiber Sensing Solutions - VIAVI is offering systems to use fibers as sensors for finding cabling problems, structural monitoring and security. Focus is on electrical power transmission, piplelines, and critical infrastructure. IT might apply to your network.

Investing in Middle Mile Can Help Communities Achieve Broadband Equity. US Ignite

Quote of the month, May 2024: “Middle mile is like the middle child that keeps getting ignored. If we continue ignoring it, at one point in time, we will not be able to connect all of these new last mile connections that we are planning on building in the next four years.” Sachin Gupta, Director of Government Business & Economic Development at Centranet.

Obstacles to Fiber Optic Workforce Training and Certification ISE Magazine

Recent Articles

Responsible Fiber Deployment: Strategies for Protection and Damage Prevention - Excavation Safety Alliance - YouTube video, 1hr.

Can Our Industry Develop Fiber Talent? ISE Magazine. Learn how states, schools and training organizations must work together to develop fiber field talent.

Landlines are dying out. But to some, they’re a lifeline. Washington Post Providers want to scale back landline service, but people with poor cell reception still rely on it for emergencies.

Pre-Excavation Safety Checklist (PDF) - Excavation Safety Alliance - essential steps before breaking ground for underground construction.
Fiber vs Wireless - Are You Kidding? ISE Magazine Of course we need both!

Developing a Fiber Workforce Really Does Take A Village - ISE magazine looks at the role of manufacturers' training in developing the fiber workforce.

How Many More Fiber Techs Do We Really Need? - ISE Magazine
Telegeography Submarine Cable Map 2023 - You can also buy copies - Telegeography

CABL® (cabl.com) serves the business needs of the Broadband industry (including traditional cable TV, fiber, telecom and satellite providers) with employment listings, classified ads, discussion forums, and more. A contractor told us it's where they find lots of opportunities for subcontracting.

Do You Believe In Magic? Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ISE Magazine.

The Secret to Future Proofing, ISE Magazine

The 45 Year Old Overnight Sensation - ISE Magazine (Read the complete Nov/Dec issue of ISE Magazine here.

ESRI has created an ebook on GIS location technology for telecom. Use the link to download the book.

Conocimiento Esencial: ¿Por qué la fibra óptica? creado por FiberWizards

Recruiting And Training Today's Fiber Optic Workforce - Learn the fundamentals to recruit and train new fiber optics -ISE Magazine.

Google Video On Their Undersea Cables YouTube Slick but interesting video on how undersea cables are designed, built and used.

Construction Without Disruption - ISE Magazine

Fiber Optics Installed By The Lowest Bidder - ISE Magazine

Building Broadband During Component and Worker Shortages - Broadband Communities - Completing broadband builds requires competent fiber optic techs, but training them requires understanding how they learn.

Worth Reading - Magazines, Websites and Newsletters

CABL® (cabl.com) serves the business needs of the Broadband industry (including traditional cable TV, fiber, telecom and satellite providers) with employment listings, classified ads, discussion forums, and more. A contractor told us it's where they find lots of opportunities for subcontracting.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance weekly newsletter has lots of interesting articles and links.

Next Century Cities Newsletter - News from cities around the US including Detroit and New York plus small

Structured Cabling News - a website and weekly newsletter about cabling

RTI Telecom Magazine from Brazil, in Portuguese. A revista RTI do mês de abril já está disponível online e recomendo a leitura de alguns artigos:

Worth Reading - History & Technical

FOA was founded in 1995 - FOA's History
As part of celebrating 3 decades serving the fiber optic industry as its primary source of technical information and independent certifying body, FOA thought it appropriate to create a short history of the organization and how it has developed to help the fiber optic industry. We also wanted to recognize the contributions many people have made to the organization over the years that made FOA what it is today.

The FOA history is on the FOA website where you can read it or link to it.

1983 Video of AT&T's First Test Of A Submarine Cable System From the AT&T Tech Channel archives (worth exploring!)

Richard Epworth's Optical Fiber History from his work at STL from 1966 with Charles Kao.

50th Anniversary of The Development of Low Loss Fibers A history of the development of low loss fiber, a fascinating story by Jeff Hecht on the OSA (Optical Society of America) website.

The First Transcontinental Telephone Line began operation on July 29th in 1915 - 3400 miles between New York and San Francisco - required over 100,000 telephone poles! Wonders of World Engineering

"Who Lost Lucent?: The Decline of America's Telecom Equipment Industry"
This is a MUST READ for managers in telecom or any industry!

Communications Systems Grounding Rules: Article 800 provides specific requirements by Michael Johnston, NECA Executive Director of Standards and Safety in EC Magazine

How To Build Rural Broadband, Learning From History
In the August 2021 FOA Newsletter, we published a lengthy article on rural broadband and compared it to rural electrification in America in the last century. Much of the comparison was based on an article written in 1940 by a USDA economist, Robert Beall, called "Rural Electrification." If you are interested in or involved in rural broadband, we recommend you read the article "How To Build Rural Broadband, Learning From History" in the August 2021 FOA Newsletter and read the Beall article also.

Recycling Fiber Optic Cable - Contact:
Steve Maginnis
LD4Recycle/ CommuniCom Recycling
(Visit website)
sm@LD4Recycle.com
803.371.5436

Sumitomo's Ribbon Splicing Guide - download from one of the leaders in splicing.

OFS also has an excellent website and blog of tech articles worth browsing.

IEC 60050 - International Electrotechnical Vocabulary - An extensive dictionary for fiber optics in English and French. Highly technical - this is one definition: "mode - one solution of Maxwell's equations, representing an electromagnetic field in a certain space domain and belonging to a family of independent solutions defined by specified boundary conditions"

Restoration: If you are interested in restoration - aren't we all? - you should also read this article in dpPro magazine by FOA President Jim Hayes: Damage Protection Requires Looking Overhead As Well As Underground - dpPRO Magazine - about the problems with aerial cables. His previous article for the magazine was New Techniques for Fiber Optic Installation.

Universal access to broadband is a cornerstone to a strong economy, Achieving universal access will require community partnerships. by Alfreda B. Norman, Sr. VP, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

FIBER TO THE FARM: The co-ops that electrified Depression-era farms are now building rural internet. Be sure to check out the high-tech equine installation equipment.

Infrastructure Get Some Respect, NY TImes "On Tech" "The magic of the internet requires a lot of very boring stuff behind the scenes. "
DIRT Report On Damage To Utilities Common Ground Alliance (CGA) annual DIRT report provides a summary and analysis of the events submitted into CGA’s Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) for the year 2018. The complete report is available for download here. In addition, there is an interactive dashboard that allows users to filter the data more by factors contributing to damages.

Fiber Trivia From Corning.

VIAVI Books On Fiber Optic Testing (2 volumes) - They're back!

Besides the FOA reference materials, two JDSU/VIAVI textbooks, Reference Guide to Fiber Optic Testing, Volumes 1 and 2, were used as references for some of the FOA courses and are recommended for instructors and students. The books are available from VIAVI as eBooks and the everyone should download them and recommend them to others.Download yours now. Volume 1. Volume 2. Viavi Books

Ciena's Submarine Cable Handbooks (4 to download)

How OFS Makes Fiber
Interesting YouTube video on how fiber is made. Perhaps a little too much "show biz" but fascinating. If you have ever seen fiber manufacture, look at this video. You will be amazed at how big preforms have become!

The True Cost of Telco Damages (what backhoe fade or target practice can cost)

Rural Electric Cooperatives: Pole Attachment Policies and Issues, June 2019.

Q&A

When readers ask us questions, we genrally refer them to FOA resources where they can find the answer to their question and many more. We first send them to the FOA Guide which is the table of contents for the FOA technical resources. There they can find pages indexed by topic and a search engine for the FOA website. It also links them to FOA videos and courses on our free online learning site Fiber U.

The FOA Fiber FAQs Page (FAQs = frequently asked questions) gathers up questions readers have asked us (which first ran in this newsletter) and adds tech topics of general interest.

Good Question!

Tech Questions/Comments From FOA Newsletter Readers

More Q&A in the FOA FAQs Page
Copper Tech Wants To Learn Fiber Optics
Q: I am originally from copper installations and faults finding. I would like to get involved in Optic fibre faults and finding, how do I go if there is a possible training it will be highly appreciated,
A: Just learn about fiber, especially fiber testing and troubleshooting. Fiber U has courses you can take for free.

OSP Installation Standards
Q: I'm looking for standards for fiber optic OSP installation.
A: The whole issue of OSP standards has been one FOA been trying to get standards bodies interested in for years with little success, probably because it is an enormous project. Right now there are two documents that address OSP cable plant:

ITU-T    Technical Report, TR-OFCS Optical fibres, cables and systems, (3 July 2015)
As you can see, the ITU document is almost 10 years old and a lot has changed in that time.

The Other is the Telcordia Blue Book - Expensive but thorough
Telcordia Blue Book - Manual of Construction Procedures
Document Number SR-1421, Issue Number 07, Issue Date Jan 2023

Is The FOA CFOT® A License?
Q: Can you use a CFOT certification to install fiber and charge for it? Or do you need other licenses as well? ;
A: FOA Certification is considered evidence of competence and accepted worldwide by many companies, groups, etc. Licenses are a legal credential required by local authorities to conduct business for anything from a barber to a truck triver to contractors doing fiber or other work. Most locales require a license as a contractor which may require a fiber specialty. You need to investigate this with your local authorities.

Pulling Fiber Optic Cables In Metal Conduit
Q: Often when constructing fibre, it is encased in steel pipes (e.g. when being attached to buildings or bridges.
I am seeking guidance on a case where the encasement has to make a right angle (or less) turn. How is the installation done? Considering possible challenges in duct laying and fibre pushing / blowing
A: The bend radius of the conduit should be kept large to not cause excess friction on the cable that would require high pulling tension. Low friction plastic duct can be pulled into the conduit first or cable lubricant used before the cable is pulled into the duct or conduit.

Radiation Effects In Fiber Optic Cables
Q: We were asked about fiber optic cables in presents of nuclear radiation in reactors. Will radiation affect the glass fiber?. Is jacket material affected by radiation?
A: This has been a topic of discussion and study since the first optical fiber use, first relative to use in nuclear power plants and nuclear powered subs and ships. Today fiber is used in satellites and the ISS. Fiber can be sensitive to radiation and is therefore used as a sensor for radiation in some experiments. Normal fibers work in most environments - wherever t is safe for humans - and special fibers and cables are used in high-radiation areas.

PC and APC Connectors
Q: Can you confirm whether there is a 1 mm gap in APC and UPC optical connectors?
A: PC, UPC and APC connectors are all physical contact connectors - that’s what “PC” means. If you had a gap between the connectors when making a connection you would have higher loss and reflectance except on the APC.

Broken Fibers
Q: What could be the main reasons for this? A buried fibre cable has broken cores, such that different cores break at different distances (e.g. core 1 and 2 break at 6 km, core 5 and 9 break at 28km, etc) Why would a core break at a point where other cores are not even showing a loss?
A: A likely cause is exceeding the pulling tension or bend radius of the cable during installation. How it affects fibers could be due to the alignment of fibers at different points or how the cable was stressed during installation. Often fiber is pulled using pulleys too small or over a small radius exiting a duct.

Questions On Restoration Repair;
Q: I have been in several debates about fiber restoration, and whether a cable being repaired should have all the fibers spliced through the damage or just the active ones. The people I have the debate with typically use the line "we follow industry standards" I am inquiring about where I may find this issue referenced? I have many of your books (if not all) but it would help me save time if you could tell me where this specific issue is addressed? For the record, I am for splicing all cables through and making the cable whole, to reduce troubleshooting, and the ability to utilize existing fiber to install new customers or roll a customer to a different fiber if their assigned fiber needs to be repaired.
A: Let’s address the standards issue first. OSP standards are almost nonexistent.. When it comes to restoration itself, the goal should be to restore service as quickly as possible- e.g. splice enough fibers for current service - then complete the restoration to return the cable plant to its condition before the damage was done. Considering the time required to locate, have techs drive to the site, prepare the cable for repair and then return the cable plant to a secure situation (aerial or underground), it seems “penny wise and pound foolish” to not complete the jonb by splicing all the fibers. Do those who argue otherwise think saving a few minutes now justifies having to do another major project in the future to restore the other fibers?

Past Questions

OTDR Measures Fiber Length
Q: What property (or defect) of SM G.652D could possibly lead to span length (fiber length determined by OTDR) being shorter than cable length? The cable length is 2.517km vs 2.508km fiber length.*
A: It is not uncommon for the OTDR measured fiber distance to differ from the cable distance read from the cable jacket. OTDR measurements have errors typically greater than the differences you gave. However there is another likely difference. THe OTDR measures time of flight (test pulse out and return) to the end of the cable and calculates the length based on the index of refraction of the fiber. Most cables have a fiber length about 1% longer than the cable length to prevent stress on the fiber when the cable is pulled, so your results showing the fiber length as being shorter indicated the particular fiber in the cable has an index of refraction that is different from the value being used by the OTDR. This is a parameter which can be set if you know the proper value for the fibers used in the cable.

What is Long Haul?
Q: Do we have a characterisation for long haul plant in terms of length? How long should a fibre plant be to be called long haul? How long is a metro and a campus fibre? Apart from length, are there any other features required for a fibre plant to be called "long haul"?
A: There is no standard definition for “long haul,” but most people probably use the following guidelines:
Long haul: >20km
Metro: 2-20km
Campus: <2km
Premises: <500m
Again, there are no standards for the term “long haul,” so while most long haul today is high speed (>10Gb/s) and may include WDM, some long haul systems for special applications like electrical utility grid monitoring may go long distances but at very low bit rates.

What's The Light Path Link
Q: Generally, how much does the distance travelled by the light pulse (one way) differ from the length of the fibre (as measured on the drum) There are probably differences (how ever small) between the path of the light pulse (as it ping-pongs inside the core) and the length of the strand.
A: In singlemode fiber, the light path length is the fiber length. In multimode fiber it depends on the type of fiber and the individual modes. Cable is generally made with the fiber being about 1% longer than the cable to prevent tension on the cable elongating it and stressing the fiber.

Reducing Attenuation
Q: What is the best way of reducing fiber optic attenuation
A: In any cable plant, the loss comes from the loss of the optical fiber and loss at joints (splices or mated connectors) plus any stress losses caused by bad installation of the cable. For a give cable plant, the options are lower loss fiber or lower loss at joints. If you need lower loss, the fiber loss is a function of the attenuation coefficient (dB/km) times the length (km)., e.g 0.4dB/km X 10 km = 4.0 dB. So if the length is fixed, you can try to find lower loss fiber. The loss at joints is a fucntion of the methods of joining. Splices have very low loss - 0.1 dB or less on singlemode fiber. slightly more on multimode fiber. Connections can have loss from 0.1 dB to more than 0.5 dB, depending on the type of connector chosen. On SM fiber, if connecctors are top quality fusion splice on connectors and are properly cleaned loss can be under 0.2 dB. Some connectors like the MPO multifiber array connector can have losses up to 0.75 dB or more. Replacing connectors with fusion splices is also a way to lower loss at joints. Here is a reference to loss budgets: https://foa.org/tech/lossbudg.htm

Safe handling of fiber optics;
Q: Is there a particular glove recommended for safe handling of FO's? I appreciate dexterity in handling may be important, but glass shards / splinters into the skin is a significant risk as well. There are vague references to using gloves, but looking for the preferred / recommended type of glove.
A: Gloves are hard to use when dealing with bare fiber but thin surgical gloves work for some people. Regular gloves are too clumsy and some cannot stop fiber penetration. When working with cable, especially armored cable or large cables, work gloves are good protection. You can also get kevlar gloves that resist cuts but are flexible and cooler. They are often advertised as kitchen gloves to prevent knife cuts.

Fault Location
Q: How do you detect fault location of fiber optics in the field? How much time it takes to detect geo-location?
A: The simple answer is an OTDR but the physical location depends on cable plant documentation and location data like GIS data. The time depends on the availability of data and equipment. Minutes to days?

"Certified' Cables
Q: we will be using a large number of fiber cables . We have specific testing and reporting requirements for the cables that are shipped to us. Each end needs to be tested in accordance with IEC-61300-3-35, IEC 61300-1:2022 with automated analysis microscopy. Instead of purchasing the cables and getting them certified upon receiving them, is there an option out there that allows you to purchase Fiber Optic Cables that have already been certified according to the above listed requirements and come with some sort of clear proof of that?
A: The question is the matter of definition of “certified.” Generally it means testing to a standard as you note. Any reputable manufacturer of these cables will supply documentation with the cables that includes loss testing and connector inspection reports. If the cable manufacturer does not supply that documentation, I suggest finding another supplier. At incoming, it may be desirable to do a AQL sampling, but testing these cables is very specialized. Not many contractors are equipped with the special test equipment needed.

Calibrating Multimode Optical Power Meters
Q: Should I be calibrating multimode optical power meters with an LED source or a laser? I know that standards call for testing multimode loss with LEDs not lasers.
A: The reason standards call for testing MM fiber with LEDs is the coherence of lasers leads to modal noise in the fibers and unpredictable variations in loss. But the wide spectral width of LEDs makes calibration less accurate than when using lasers at the correct wavelengths. Calibrate meters with lasers, test fibers with LEDs.

Color Codes On Higher Fiber Count Cables
Q: Why do buffer tubes 13-24 repeat the colors with a black stripe (black will have a yellow stripe)? Why does it start with black stripe vs starting with blue? And what happens when you get to black tube color again do you skip it?
A: Color codes are an interesting topic. The basic color codes go back to the beginnings of multi-pair phone cables. TIA added color codes for premises cable jackets and connectors in TIA-598 to the 1-12 color codes for fibers and buffer tubes. FOA covers that basic system in the online Guide here: https://foa.org/tech/ColCodes.htm
The question about the second black fiber, fiber 20, is an interesting one. Many cables use black with a yellow stripe but Corning uses a clear buffer with a black stripe. https://www.corning.com/catalog/coc/documents/application-engineering-notes/AEN029.pdf
It turns out that cable manufacturers don’t all do it the same way for higher fiber counts. Most use the 1-12 colors for fibers and the same for buffer tubes. 12 fibers per colored buffer tube is the tradition, but there are 24 fibers in some tubes, so it’s 1-24 colors.
Ribbon cables are another story. With the older hard ribbon designs, cable manufacturers often printed information on each ribbon. Those are becoming obsolete and you can’t print on the new flexible ribbons the same way, so I’ve seen schemes to print dots and dashes on the fibers in the ribbons!
So what we have is a standard, but standards are voluntary, so not everybody follows them!

Repairing Fiber Optic Connector Ferrules
Q: Can you take an existing fiber optic number connector and polish the end if the end is to dirty or damaged that it cannot be cleaned via dry or wet methods?
A: Yes, using special polishing techniques. We have a page on that in the FOA Guide: Fiber Optic Connector Repair

Grounding Armored Jumper Cables
Q: Do you need to bond/ground FTTH drop "jumpers" that ise an armored cable?
A: Yes, just like any other cable that has conductive elements. A manufacturer of the cables Tinifiber seems to agree: https://tinifiber.com/bonding-and-grounding-armored-fiber-cable/
I do not know of any fiber optic connectors that address this, unlike the RJ-45/modular 8-pin connectors for UTP copper.

Disoposal Of Fiber Optic Cables
Q: How does an organization dispose of unwanted fiber optic cables in an environmentally safe manner?
A: We recommend that users save some reels leftover from an installation for possible use in restoration. If a cable break occurs, getting cable quickly can be a problem. We also have a contact who says he can recycle fiber optic cable:
Contact: Steve Maginnis, LD4Recycle/ CommuniCom Recycling, (Visit website https://ld4recycle.com), sm@LD4Recycle.com, 803.371.5436
Otherwise, it is basically landfill.

Finding Buried Fiber Optic Cables
Q: We have a client that needs their private fiber located. We have been on site and confirmed the lines were installed with no tracer wire or conductive conduit/sheathing. Want to know if you had any suggestions on how to locate or if there was specialized equipment that I am aware of.
A: Interesting question on an important topic. The answer is a qualified maybe. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) can sometimes spor fiber optic cable, maybe more easily if it is in duct or conduit. It requires someone with a lot of experince in GPR. There are companies around the US with this capability. Then there is a new proposal using the sensing capability of fiber with above ground vibrators. Nothing commercial is available here as far as I know.
https://www.winlab.rutgers.edu/~hansiiii/papers/OECC_2020_Liu.pdf

Fiber Optics For Alarm Systems
Q: Can you please help me with having information about if do you know if someone did use fiber for complete fire alarm systems, sensor, smoke detectors, panels etc.
A: FOA checked with my technical contact at the IBEW, Jim Simpson, for this topic. Here is his answer:
NFPA does indeed have requirements for fiber in fire alarm systems. Keep in mind, the requirements may vary depending on which edition of NFPA 72 the jurisdiction has adopted. The info below is based on the 2022 NFPA 72.

Chapter 12 covers Circuits and Pathways

Section 27.4 covers Communications Methods

Section 27.7 covers Public Cable Plant

Updating FOA Courses And Reference Materials
Q: How often are FOA courses updated? And when they get updated, what happens to those who would have done a previous version?
A: The FOA certifications are updated as needed to stay current with technology and applications. Udates are incremental and we do not require current certification holders to retake courses or exams. Some of our updates are almost humorous. For example, over the last 20 years the definitions of “hybrid” and “composite” cables have flipped twice in several international standards. At the last time, we changed all references to these cable types in all our materials to note the confusion it creates, then purged all questions from our exams that covered this confusing topic.

Older questions can be found on the FAQs page.

Fiber Optic Color Codes Reference Chart
Q: Has anyone made a fiber optic pocket reference chart that has cable color orders, frequencies, or other commonly used info on it?
A: The FOA has a page on its Online Guide that covers color codes (https://foa.org/tech/ColCodes.htm). It is the most popular page in the FOA Guide! It works great with a smartphone.

More Q&A in the FOA FAQs Page

The word on the "Dig Once" program is getting out - FOA is getting calls from cities asking us for information and advice. Here are some links:

The DoT page on the administration’s Executive Order: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/exeorder.cfm

And the one to download and hand out:
A “How To” Guide from The Global Connect Initiative: https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/6.-GCI-Dig-Once.pdf

Training / FiberU

News and resources to help you learn more and stay updated.

Learn about the fiber optic/ broadband workforce

Find a listing of all the FOA-Approved schools here.

Free online self-study programs on many fiber optics and cabling topics are available at Fiber U, FOA's online web-based training website.
Free online training at Fiber U

The FOA has >100 videos on
Online Credentials For FOA Schools And Certified Instructors

FOA switched to online credentials 1-1/2 years ago. Now every active FOA certified fiber optic and premises cabling tech has an online credential they can use to prove their certification, print paper certificates and share on social media. When they add another certification or renew, their online credential is updated.

FOA has now expanded the online credentials to its network of FOA Approved training organizations and FOA Certified Fiber Optic Instructors (CFOS/I and CPCT/I.) Now FOA Approved training organizations and FOA Certified Fiber Optic Instructors can now also share their credentials online.


Those evaluating fiber optic or premises cabling training organizations will be able to quickly determine the status of the training organization they are considering by following the link to the organizations online credential. Likewise the qualifications of the instructor are also available on their online credential which lists all their FOA certifications.

More about FOA's network of approved training organizations.

The Types of Work Done By Fiber Techs And How It Affects Training

What is a fiber optic technician? What kinds of work do they do? Those topics were the center of FOA discussions with the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics that led to the new job category of "Telecommunications Technician" on the BLS website. The focus of this job category is primarily the installation and operation of the fiber optic cable plant, but one should not forget the cable plant must be designed also as part of a more extensive communications network.

In our discussion with the BLS analysts, we pointed out the various stages of a fiber optic communications network project and how techs with various knowledge and skill sets are needed and involved in every step. Here is how FOA defines these stages of a project and the skills of the techs. This is not unique to FOA; it's what has been traditional at telecom companies forever.

Planning and Design: Once needs for a communications network is established, project managers will be responsible for all the details of the project while experienced fiber techs trained and experienced in fiber optic network design (CFOS/D) will design the cable plant itself. (FOA Guide - Design)

Construction: Aerial cable plants may require installing new poles or doing make-ready on existing poles and messengers. Underground construction requires trenching and installation of ducts. In many cases the actual construction is done by general construction workers, as the construction work in many cases is not unique to fiber optics. Heavy machinery is required for much of the construction work and training is focused on safety as well as operating the machinery. (FOA Guide - Construction)

Fiber Optic Cable Installers: Once the route is prepared, the fiber optic cable can be installed. Aerial cable installation depends on the type of cable. Regular OSP cable, figure 8 cable and ADSS cable requires special hardware and installation techniques so the techs must understand the process appropriate for each cable. (FOA Guide - Installation)

Splicers: Since the beginning, fiber techs have been called "splicers" because that was the original job unique to fiber optics. Construction and cable installation was not very different from earlier copper cables, but splicing was very different. Even today, fiber techs are often called splicers and splicing is a core skill for any fiber tech whether they are joining cables or terminating them. (FOA Guide - Splicing)

Testers: After the fiber optic cable is installed and spliced, it must be tested. Testing goes together with splicing since every splice will be tested, often as soon as it is made so if it needs redoing, it should be done before the splice closure is sealed. (FOA Guide - Testing)

Network Operators: Once the cable plant is built and the communications equipment installed, it needs techs who know how to operate the comms but may only know how to connect new gear or change connections on current gear. These techs should also know how to troubleshoot systems in an outage and either do the restoration themselves or call a tech who can. (FOA Guide - Operation)

These categories merely define the stages of installation of a fiber optic project. Of course there are subsets of these categories and most fiber techs are expected to have skills and jobs that cross into multiple groups, as FOA has defined in the KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities) for a CFOT.

What an individual worker does differs according to their job. An independent fiber contractor may cover every job except operation and a FTTH subscriber installation tech may only understand installing cables, testing and connecting equipment within the scope of FTTH systems. A construction company may handle the trenching and even pole setting as well as parts of the traditional fiber work.

The FOA defined its role early on to focus on educating and certifying techs in the fiber specific skills: cable installation, splicing, testing and restoration. FOA would like to see more schools get into the construction phase, especially for newer techniques like microtrenching and blowing cable, but these require large outdoor areas for training and large investments in equipment. Most techs who learn these processes now do it with OJT - on-the-job-training - and hopefully get OSHA training for safety.

FOA School News

FOA's roster of approved schools is growing as more organizations recognize our expertise in workforce development and our comprehensive support for getting new schools started. FOA has over 25 years experience and nearly 100,000 certified fiber techs (with ~130,000 certifications). As a non-profit organization founded by the industry specifically to develop a competent workforce, FOA provides the consultation, curriculum and contacts to get schools started as a free service to new schools.

Complete listing of FOA Approved Training Organizations

Need A Fiber Optic Course Onsite? Invite an FOA School To Come To You

FOA often gets inquiries from an organization that has personnel that needs training in fiber optics. Recent inquiries have included contractors, a manufacturer of high-reliability products using fiber optics and a cable manufacturer. In many cases, where there are several people needing training, FOA can recommend a FOA Approved School and Certified Instructor who will come to their location to teach a class. The advantage is of course the savings in travel costs if the class comes to you, but it also offers the opportunity to customize the course to fit your needs, even use your equipment or work on your components, so the training is more relevant to those taking the class.

Contact FOA to discuss the idea of a custom, on-site class to see if it will better meet your needs.

Fiber U On-The-Job Training (OJT) Program

The FOA Fiber U OJT program for novices combines online study at Fiber U with OJT with mentoring by experienced co-workers and their supervisor to help new employees develop into experienced FOA-certified technicians.

The FOA Fiber U “OJT-To-Cert” program includes both fiber optics and premises cabling (copper, fiber & wireless), so it covers techs working in both outside plant and premises jobs.
Like other FOA programs, the OJT-To-Cert program is free. If you and/or your company is interested in the FOA OJT-To-Cert program, contact FOA.

To explain how OJT works and FOA's OJT-To-Cert program, FOA created a short video: Lecture 62: On The Job Training For Fiber Optics Using Fiber U

FOA Direct Certification Program For Experienced Fiber Optic Techs

Experience Plus Online Study At Fiber U = FOA Certification

Experienced fiber optic technicians can become FOA Certified using their experience in fiber optics and study for the FOA certification exams online at Fiber U. Thousands of industry professionals have applied to the FOA directly for certification without the need for classroom training, based on their knowledge and skills developed working the field. Since FOA certifications are based on KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities), current techs can show the skills and abilities required through their field experience. FOA provides free online self-study courses at Fiber U for the knowledge part to prepare you for FOA certification exams which you can also take online.

If you are an experienced field tech interested in certification, and FOA is the internationally recognized certifying body for fiber optics, you can find out more about the FOA Direct Certification Program here.

If you are already a CFOT, FOA also offers many specialist certifications you can obtain based on your experience as a field tech. See what's available at Fiber U.

Fiber U "Basic Fiber Optics" Online Self-Study Course Now In Spanish

El curso de autoaprendizaje en línea "Fibra óptica básica" de Fiber U ahora en español

El sitio de aprendizaje en línea de FOA, Fiber U, tiene más de dos docenas de cursos de autoaprendizaje gratuitos sobre fibra óptica y cableado de instalaciones. Como era de esperar, el tema más popular es el curso "Fibra óptica básica", que se utiliza para iniciarse en la fibra óptica y como curso de preparación para realizar el examen de certificación FOA CFOT.

Ahora el curso básico de fibra óptica está disponible en español, utilizando el libro de texto FOA en español, la sección de la Guía en línea en español y la capacidad de YouTube para traducir subtítulos de video al español. El curso funciona exactamente como la versión en inglés con 10 lecciones, cada una con cuestionarios y una opción para tomar un examen de Certificado de finalización.

Para presentar el nuevo curso de español Fiber U, el examen Certificate of Completion es gratuito, así que dígaselo a sus contactos.

Curso Básico de Fibra Óptica de Fibra U en español.

New Fiber U Course: Fiber Characterization
FOA has added a new course at Fiber U on Fiber Characterization. Fiber characterization is the process for testing long fiber cable plants for its ability for carrying high speed communications. With so many networks now operating at 100, 200, 400 or even 800 Gb/s, fiber characterization is important, especially on older fiber optic cable plants.The free Fiber U Fiber Characterization course is available in two forms, as a standalone Fiber U fiber Characterization Course with its own Fiber U Certificate of Completion and as a separate Lesson in the Fiber U Fiber Optic Testing course. This course is recommended for those studying for the FOA CFOS/FC Fiber Characterization certification.

Fiber U MiniCourses: Got An Hour Or Less? Learn Something New About Fiber Optics.

FOA has introduced a new type of Fiber U course, the MiniCourse, a free online course you could take in a short time, perhaps as you ate lunch at your desk or took a coffee break. The topics of these courses should explain what they are about, and these are all very important topics to fiber optic techs.

New Fiber U MiniCourse - Fiber Optic Jargon
There is a new MiniCourse at Fiber U - Fiber Optic Jargon. Jargon is the most important thing you need to learn when you learn about a new technology. This short Fiber U MiniCourse is intended to introduce you to fiber optic jargon and make learning about fiber much easier. It's aimed at novices but is a good refresher for even experienced techs.

Fiber Optics In Communications

Fiber Optic Jargon

How Optical Fiber Works

Fiber Optic Network Restoration

Fiber Optic Connector Identification

Fiber U Color Codes

The Mysterious dB of Fiber Optics

Fiber Optic Cable Bend Radius

Fiber Optic Link Loss And Power Budgets

Fiber Optic Connector Inspection And Cleaning

Fiber Optic Media Conversion

Fiber Optic Cable Midspan Access

Reading An OTDR Trace

Reference Cables For Testing

Fiber Optic Attenuators

The courses have two components, video lectures and readings, that are complementary. As usual there is a self-test to allow you to check your comprehension. As with other Fiber U courses if you desire, you can take a short test for a Fiber U Certificate of Completion that costs only $10.

All these free courses and many more are available at Fiber U.

What Fiber Techs Don't Know -

What We Learn From FOA Certification Tests

As FOA moves more testing over to our digital online testing system at ClassMarker, we have access to more data about our testing, including what questions and topics on the tests are answered incorrectly most often. Having this data gives us an opportunity to evaluate the questions and how they are stated, but more importantly it allow us to help our instructors teach the subjects and us to change our curriculum and online courses to emphasize these particular topics. These are some of the topics that we have noticed are answered incorrectly more often in FOA and Fiber U tests.

Most of the questions missed are on testing.

1. OTDRs - particularly what information is in the OTDR trace.

2. The difference between dB and dBm

3. Loss budgets - both the concepts and doing the math

4. Insertion loss testing - single-ended or double ended for testing patchcords or cable plants, how to set 0dB references

5. Units of measure - fiber is measured in microns, wavelengths in nanometers, etc.

At FOA, we're working to add Fiber U MiniCourses on these topics and working with our schools to emphasize these topics in their classes.

If you are going to be taking a FOA certification course or test in the near future, these topics should be on your final exam study list.

What We Learn From Hands On Labs
We learn about students performance in hands-on labs from the feedback of our instructors and our own experiences too. One big problem is the use of hand tools. Growing up today, you learn how to use keyboards, mouses and touch screens, but decades ago, you also learned how to use basic hand tools. This is big enough of a problem that we're considering adding some video lessons on basic hand tools to prepare students for cable prep, termination and splicing that require the use of hand tools.

FOA offers free online self-study programs at Fiber U. Many users are preparing for FOA certification programs - taking courses at our schools or using the Direct Certification program. Some of our schools are requiring Fiber U programs as prerequisites for their classroom courses so they can spend more time on hands-on activities.

Publications / Resources

Cross Reference To FOA Tech Materials
FOA has so much technical reference material, we created a cross reference guide to the textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U courses, all the FOA technical information. Besides the textbooks, online Guide and Fiber U, each section of the Guide also includes links to the 100+ FOA videos available.

Cross Reference Guide to Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U

FOA Guide To Fiber Optic Workforce Development

To help those new to fiber optic workforce development, FOA has created a web page we call "Fiber Optic Workforce Development." In this page, we share what we have learned about the fiber optic workforce, who they are and how they learn their trade. We discuss what defines a fiber optic tech and how they should be certified.

Read the FOA Guide To Fiber Optic Workforce Development online.

New Edition of FOA's Basic Fiber Optics Textbook

Just like they say in the product ads, it's new and improved!

It has been 5 years since we have updated the FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics, so it is certainly time for an update. The latest version is different enough we call it a new edition. Many of the updates are for new technologies which are reshaping the fiber optic industry like coherent transmission, BI fibers, etc. We've also added a section on the fiber optic workforce which has much relevance because this book is used to train those entering the workforce.

We've also worked on making the book more readable, adding formatting that eases reading and a new comprehensive index.

Inflation was an issue, but the price only goes up $2 to $29.95 for the paperback and $12.95 for the Kindle version.

The new edition of the FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics is available from Amazon and booksellers worldwide.

New In Spanish - Nuevo en español

FOA Spanish Textbook And Online Guide Updated

The FOA Spanish textbook and Online Guide on basic fiber optics has just been updated. The new version includes all the latest updates and is intended for use with FOA CFOT certification classes presented in Spanish. Both paperback and Kindle versions are available. The textbook and the updated CFOT class curriculum are available now.

Libro de texto en español y guía en línea de FOA actualizados
Se acaba de actualizar el libro de texto en español y la Guía Online de FOA sobre fibra óptica básica. La nueva versión incluye las últimas actualizaciones y está diseñada para usarse con las clases de certificación FOA CFOT presentadas en español. Están disponibles versiones de bolsillo y Kindle. El libro de texto y el plan de estudios actualizado de la clase CFOT ya están disponibles.

FOA Adds Fiber Optic Network Design in Spanish

The FOA Design textbook and course curriculum are available in Spanish also. The FOA CFOS/D curriculum in Spanish includes the necessary materials for an instructor to present the course in Spanish and give thCFOS/D certification exam in Spanish. The material is available to any FOA-approved school. For more infirmation on becoming a FOA approved school, go here.

El libro de texto de FOA Design y el plan de estudios del curso también están disponibles en español. El plan de estudios de FOA CFOS/D en español incluye los materiales necesarios para que un instructor presente el curso en español y dé el examen de certificación CFOS/D en español. El material está disponible para cualquier escuela aprobada por la FOA. Para obtener más confirmación sobre cómo convertirse en una escuela aprobada por la FOA, vaya aquí.

Best Seller: Fiber Broadband (Paperback and Kindle)

In less than half a century, fiber optics has revolutionized communications and to a large extent, society in general. Broadband, what many today call high speed Internet access, has become a necessity for everyone, not a luxury. The technology that makes broadband possible is fiber optics, connecting the continents, cities, and just about everybody. Even fiber to the home (FTTH) brings broadband to hundreds of millions worldwide.

How did we get from an era when communications was making a telephone call or sending a telegram to today’s world where every piece of information – and misinformation – is available at the click of a mouse or touch on a screen? How did we get from a time when a phone was connected on copper wires to being able to connect practically anywhere on a handheld device with more computing power than was available to scientists and engineers only decades ago?

How does broadband work? Without fiber optics it would not work.

This book is not the typical FOA technical textbook - it is written for anyone who wants to understand fiber broadband or fiber optics or the Internet. It's also aimed at STEM teachers who want to include communications technology in their classes. This book will try to explain not only how fiber broadband works, but how it was developed. It is intended to be an introduction to communications technology appropriate for a communications course at almost any level (junior high, high school or college,) for managers involved with broadband projects, or for anyone who just wonders how all this stuff works.

The Fiber Optic Association Guide To Fiber Broadband

Paperback ($12.95) and Kindle ($9.95) versions available from Amazon or most booksellers. Kindle version is in color!

More Translations of FOA Textbooks

FOA is a very international organization and it works hard to accommodate the language needs of everyone. We have been translating our books and website into the languages most requested, and this month, we add two more textbook translations. We also want to thank Jerry Morla, FOA CFOS/I instructor and Director who has been doing the recent translations into Spanish, his native language.

Here is a listing of all the FOA textbook Translations

Spanish Editions:
Guía de Referencia de la Asociación de Fibra Óptica (FOA) Sobre Fibra Óptica: Guía de estudio para la certificación de la FOA Amazon
La Referencia de Cableado para Predios de la FOA: Guía para Certificación de la FOA   Amazon
La Asociación de Fibra Óptica Manual de Fibra Hasta el Hogar : Para Planificadores, Gestores, Diseñadores, Instaladores y Operadores De FTTH Amazon
Guía de Referencia de la FOA sobre Diseño de la red de fibra óptica: Guía de Estudio para la Certificación de la FOA Amazon

And the FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics:
French Edition: Le Guide de référence de la FOA pour la fibre optique et et guide d'étude pour la certification FOA: Guide d'étude pour la certification FOA Amazon
Portuguese Edition: Guia de Referência sobre Fibra Óptica da FOA : Guia de Estudo para a Certificação da FOA Amazon
The subject matter of these books is also translated in the FOA Guide online.

Planning A Fiber Optic Project?
The FOA Guide To Fiber Optic Projects includes this timeline and comments on project planning and implementation.

FOA Video Lectures On YouTube

Did you know YouTube will close caption videos in many languages?

Sign in with Google to get translations for closed captioning. Click on the settings icon (red arrow.) Choose "Subtitles". English is the default language. Click on the arrow after "English (auto-generated) >". In the new window click on "Auto-translate" and choose the language you want.

FOA Loss Budget Calculator On A Web Page 5/2020

FOA has written many articles about loss budgets, something everyone involved in fiber optics needs to know and needs to know how to calculate. We recently discovered how to get a spreadsheet ported to a Web page, so we created this web page that calculates loss budgets. We have an iOS loss budget app, but with this web page, you can calculate loss budgets from any device, smart phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer that has web browsing capability.

Bookmark this page (especially on your smartphone): FOA Loss Budget Calculator Online

We are continually updating the Online Reference Guide to keep up with changes in the industry and adding lots of new pages of technical information. When you go to the FOA Guide Table of Contents to see the latest updates - look for .

Fiber Optics (4 languages), Premises Cabling, OSP fiber and construction, Network Design, Testing, FTTH Handbook and our latest - FIber Broadband

   The FOA has it's own reference books for everyone working in fiber optics - contractors, installers and end users as well as for use as textbooks in classes at educational institutions. They are available as printed books or Kindle at much lower prices than most textbooks since we self-publish and sell online, cutting out the middlemen. Click on the book images for more information. The Reference Guide To Fiber Optics is also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese. The Design book is available in English and Spanish.

Click on any book for more information about it.

FOA has reprinted

"Lennie Lightwave's Guide" on its 25th anniversary in a special print edition.

Lennie and Uncle Ted's Guides are online.

Click on any of the books to learn more.

Fiber Optic Safety Poster to download and print

Resources For Teachers In K-12 And Technical Schools
Teachers in all grades can introduce their students to fiber optic technology with some simple demonstrations. FOA has created a page for STEM or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) teachers with materials appropriate to their classes. Fiber Optic Resources For Teachers.

Safety

On Safety

New Fiber U Course: Fiber Optic Safety

Safety must be the first concern of everyone involved in a fiber optic project, including those planning, designing, managing or supervising and of course those doing the installation.

FOA is often asked about safety for fiber optics. Some inquiries ask where it's covered in the FOA Online Guide or textbooks or if we have a course on safety at Fiber U. Almost all Fiber U Courses have lessons covering safety, because safety is important in every aspect of a fiber optic project.

This new Fiber U course will focus on safety alone. There are two lessons in this course, fiber optic construction and fiber optic installation. The dividing line between the two courses is the installation of the fiber optic cables. Construction leads up to and/or is completed when the cables are installed. Installation begins when the fiber tech installs the cable, then completes the splicing, termination testing and documentation. The overlap between the two is the installation of the cables where both construction personnel and fiber optic techs are involved.

Here is the new Fiber U "Fiber Optic Safety" self-study program. Take the course and get your certificate of completion.

Enhance your safety with the FOA Safety Vest.

The FOA is concerned about safety!
FOA considers safety an integral part of all our programs, curriculum materials and technical materials. We start all our textbooks and their online versions with a section on safety in the first chapter, like this: Before we get started - Safety First!

There are pages on the FOA Guide on Safety procedures Including Eye Safety and. Digging Safely

And a YouTube lecture: FOA Lecture 2: Safety When Working With Fiber Optics

In our OSP Construction Section, these pages cover many safety issues including those related to the construction of the cable plant: Project Preparation And Guidelines, Underground Cable Construction, Underground Cable Installation and Aerial Cable Installation.

There is even a safety poster for the fiber activities: PDF Safety Rules For Fiber Optics

Other Safety Resources:

There is a toll-free "call before you dig" number in the USA: Dial 811. See www.call811.com for more information in the US. Here is their map of resources by states.

In Canada, it's "Click Before You Dig.com" They also have a page of resources by US states and Canadian provinces.

The Common Ground Alliance has an excellent "Best Practices Guide" online

The US Department of Transportation has a website called "National Pipeline Mapping System" that allows one to search for buried pipelines.

Why We Warn You To Be Careful About Fiber Shards

Photo courtesy Brian Brandstetter, Mississauga Training Consultantcy

FOA/About

About The FOA

Contact Us: http://www.foa.org or email <info@foa.org>

FOA has a company page and four LinkedIn Groups

FOA - official company page on LinkedIn

FOA - covers FOA, technology and jobs in the fiber optic marketplace

FOA Fiber Optic Training - open to all, covers fiber optic technology and training topics

Grupo de La Asociación de Fibra Óptica FOA (Español) What is The FOA?

The FOA is a, international non-profit educational association chartered to promote professionalism in fiber optics through education, certification and standards.

Founded in 1995 by a dozen prominent fiber optics trainers and leaders from education, industry and government as a professional society for fiber optics and a source of independent certification, the FOA has grown to now being involved in numerous activities to educate the world about fiber optics and certify the workers who design, build and operate the world's fiber optic networks.

Read More

FOA History

FOA Timeline of Fiber Optics

Contact Us
The Fiber Optic Association Inc.
https://www.foa.org or email <info@foa.org>
https://www.thefoa.org or email <info@thefoa.org>
Telephone/text: 760-451-3655

The FOA Home Page

Want to know more about fiber optics? Study for FOA certifications? Free Self-Study Programs are on "Fiber U®." Looking for specific information? Here's the largest technical reference on the web: The FOA Online Fiber Optic Reference Guide.

Free online self-study programs on many fiber optics and cabling topics are available at Fiber U, FOA's online web-based training website.

Contact Us
The Fiber Optic Association Inc.

The FOA Home Page

Fiber Optic Timeline

(C)1999-2025, The Fiber Optic Association, Inc.

FOA Logo Merchandise

New FOA Swag! Shirts, Caps, Stickers, Cups, etc.

The FOA has created a store on Zazzle.com offering lots of new logo merchandise. It has lots of versions of shirts and other merchandise with "FOA," "Fiber U," "Lennie Lightwave" designs and more so you should find something just for you! See FOA on Zazzle.

Your Name, CFOT® - It pays to advertise!

The FOA encourages CFOTs to use the logo on their business cards, letterhead, truck or van, etc. and provides logo files for that purpose. But we are also asked about how to use the CFOT or CFOS certifications. Easy, you can refer to yourself as "Your Name, CFOT" or "Your Name, CFOS/T" for example.

Feel free to use the logo and designations to promote your achievements and professionalism!
Contact FOA at info@thefoa.org to get logos in file format for your use.

Privacy Policy (for the EU GDPR): The FOA does not use cookies or any other web tricks to gather information on visitors to our website, nor do we allow commercial advertising. Our website hosts may gather traffic statistics for the visitors to our website and our online testing service, ClassMarker, maintains statistics of test results. We do not release or misuse any information on any of our members except we will confirm FOA certifications and Fiber U certificates of completion when requested by appropriate persons such as employers or personnel services.
Read the complete FOA Privacy Policy here.

April Fool!

You can't violate the laws of thermodynamics.

The photo is of a 1980s era diesel generator used for backup power
at an insurance company's computer center.
Lord Kelvin was one of the originators of thermodynamics.