Cabling process
How fibre optics reaches your city and your home
In today’s increasingly connected world, cities are evolving into smart cities.
Open Fiber supports this transformation by delivering FTTH (Fibre to the Home) networks directly to homes, offices, and businesses across Italy.
But how does optical fibre cabling take place?
Parties involved in the cabling process
The process of building the FTTH network begins with the signing of an agreement between Open Fiber and the relevant municipality. The agreement outlines the timeline, working methods, technical and safety standards, as well as the procedures for laying the fibre optic cable.
PoP: the heart of the network
PoPs (Points of Presence) are infrastructure nodes that host the fixed access and transport/backhauling network elements.
The former refers to active elements that aggregate and distribute user traffic across the access network, while the latter handle transport to the final delivery point.
There are three types of PoP:
- National PoPs, forming the Backbone network.
- Edge PoPs, for regional reference areas
- Local PoPs or PCNs, for white or urban areas
Cabling process phases
During the survey, also known as “walk in”, we collect all the information needed to define the project, such as the number of buildings and housing units (HUs) within a building, or the individual homes along a street scheduled for cabling.
We assess the possibility of using existing infrastructure (“walk out”) or, if necessary, building new infrastructure, and we collect the required authorisations. At this stage, communication templates are issued (e.g. Start of Works Notice, Authorisation for the installation and operation of the FTTH optical fibre network in the Municipality, Building Access Authorisation, etc.).
Once the forms and authorisations have been collected, the internal survey is carried out through on-site inspections of buildings. If civil works are required, an authorisation is issued which must be completed by the natural person or local authority concerned.
Once we have all the necessary information and documentation, we implement a ‘preliminary project’ in which we define the works to be carried out, the type of excavation, the cable sizing and the location of the SFP – Secondary Flexibility Point – street cabinet.
Once the design is approved, it becomes final, and authorisation is requested from the relevant authorities.
The FTTH connection is deployed by linking the PoPs to Housing Units via fibre optic cables. At this stage, we install the PFS (Secondary Flexibility Point) street cabinet and the PTE (Building Termination Point) to reach homes, offices, and businesses. We carry out the following activities:
- PoP Construction: this takes 6-12 months and may be in-door (within existing buildings) or out-door (in prefabricated structures).
- Infrastructure installation: the fibre optic cable is placed inside plastic tubes, which are essential for network efficiency.
- Route testing: we perform optical splicing from the PoP to housing units, followed by the delivery process that opens the network to operators.
After installation, we proceed with road surface restoration, minimising inconvenience for residents and reducing environmental impact. The process is divided into two stages:
- Temporary restoration: after trenching, the excavation is filled with concrete mixed with iron oxide (creating a reddish-pink strip) and left to settle for at least 30 days to allow the ground to stabilise.
- Final restoration: this involves removing the surface layer of the road (milling) and applying hot asphalt to fully reinstate the carriageway.
All restoration works are fully covered by Open Fiber, with no cost to the municipal administration.
Wherever possible, we use existing ducts and infrastructure to minimise environmental impact.
Fibre optics: for an ultra-fast connection
Fibre optic network cabling guarantees higher download speeds than other solutions. The FTTH network, with fibre optic cables running directly to the home, delivers outstanding performance and complements 5G in Italy, supporting the country’s complete digital development for citizens and businesses alike.
