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If fiber cable is cut, who pays?In a routine residential FIOS installation, where the fiber is dug about 6 inches down in the yard, what happens if the fiber line is cut? Rather, who pays?
I'm very careful, but with prospect of moving from Comcast to FIOS, I wanted to ask now, "just in case". Murphy was a not-so-distant relative... |
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I think Verizon changed the terms not long ago to where you are responsible if you cut the line. To avoid this, be sure to call 811 before you dig. That way they have to mark where the line is, and if they mark it wrong then I wouldn't think you'd be liable at that point. |
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 aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-ACRH13
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to bassman99
said by bassman99:In a routine residential FIOS installation, where the fiber is dug about 6 inches down in the yard, what happens if the fiber line is cut? Rather, who pays?
I'm very careful, but with prospect of moving from Comcast to FIOS, I wanted to ask now, "just in case". Murphy was a not-so-distant relative... I've had my Comcast line cut by FiOS three times. And my FiOS line cut by Comcast three times. I never paid for any repairs. |
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to Allitnil
said by Allitnil:I think Verizon changed the terms not long ago to where you are responsible if you cut the line. To avoid this, be sure to call 811 before you dig. That way they have to mark where the line is, and if they mark it wrong then I wouldn't think you'd be liable at that point. I thought I read somewhere about paying "thousands" if you cut the line. |
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ansky
join:2009-05-18
West Orange, NJ |
ansky
Member
2016-Mar-25 11:51 am
said by bassman99:said by Allitnil:I think Verizon changed the terms not long ago to where you are responsible if you cut the line. To avoid this, be sure to call 811 before you dig. That way they have to mark where the line is, and if they mark it wrong then I wouldn't think you'd be liable at that point. I thought I read somewhere about paying "thousands" if you cut the line. I guess if you cut the line and they have to dig up half your yard to replace the line then maybe it could get expensive. If the line is buried I'm trying to figure out how a resident could accidentally cut it. |
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It's not buried very deep. Usually 4-6 inches, but some report being as shallow as two inches. So it's easy to hit if doing yard work or aerating your lawn. |
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to bassman99
Are we talking about the Drop Cable (From the ped to your house) or the main cable near the street? Drop cables are (relatively) cheap and are more or less considered expendable. I have never had a telco or MSO charge to replace a drop. You should always call 811 if you are going to dig, but I'm not sure they even locate drop cables. |
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Yes, we're talking about the drop cable. Look on Verizon's forums and you'll see numerous posts of customers getting a bill from CMR for hundreds of dollars to replace their drop line. » www.google.com/search?q= ··· izon.com |
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ansky
join:2009-05-18
West Orange, NJ |
ansky
Member
2016-Mar-25 1:11 pm
said by Allitnil:Yes, we're talking about the drop cable. Look on Verizon's forums and you'll see numerous posts of customers getting a bill from CMR for hundreds of dollars to replace their drop line.
»www.google.com/search?q= ··· izon.com Makes sense, because you're not just paying for a cable. You have to pay for the guy to come out, dig up the old cable, replace it, and put your yard back together. That could take some time depending on how long the cable run is. |
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I'm not saying I agree with them charging to replace it, as often they aren't burying the cable to the proper depth of 18" per NEC 830.47.
EDIT: Now if the drop was buried to a depth of 18" and the customer did not call 811 prior to digging and then damaged the line it's a different story. |
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to Allitnil
That's ridiculous. When I lived up North, Verizon subcontracted drop buries to the absolute most fly by night low bid contractors. If they got the drop more than two inches into the ground it was a miracle. |
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Is there Verizon FIOS insurance (optional) that covers the drop in the yard? It sounds like FIOS is rather more nasty in the event that the fiber cable in the yard is cut.
Is there "code" that requires cable be dropped to a certain depth? |
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said by bassman99:Is there "code" that requires cable be dropped to a certain depth? There is no code in most places concerning cable depth for FiOS since it poses no safety hazard. However, some locations do require conduit to be used for drop cables. Conduit is strong enough that it prevents 99% of accidents; digging with a shovel or aerating the lawn isn't going to cut the conduit. Virtually all of the main fiber optic trunk line that is buried near the street is placed in conduit. The fiber optic drop cable Verizon uses is more expensive than cable TV RG-6 coax because it is optical instead of RF. In addition, the FiOS drop cables tend to be much LONGER; a typical FiOS drop cable can range from 100 to 500 feet (in rare cases as long as 1000 ft) whereas a cable TV drop cable is usually limited to 125 feet due to RF attenuation. When the FiOS plant was built out, they saved money by locating the Fiber Distribution Terminals on every third pole. This means a longer optical drop cable. |
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said by Betamax76:There is no code in most places concerning cable depth for FiOS since it poses no safety hazard. I agree there is not a safety risk, but I still believe NEC (National Electrical Code) 830.47 for Network Powered Broadband Communication would apply. » www.freenec.com/T640.html |
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gs0b
join:2014-08-14
Bucks, PA |
gs0b
Member
2016-Mar-25 10:41 pm
said by Allitnil:I agree there is not a safety risk, but I still believe NEC (National Electrical Code) 830.47 for Network Powered Broadband Communication would apply. Fiber is not powered, nor is it electrical. It's glass wrapped in plastic with laser beams shining through it. I'm not sure if NEC applies to fiber any more than NEC applies to plumbing. Enjoy. |
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said by gs0b:Fiber is not powered, nor is it electrical. It's glass wrapped in plastic with laser beams shining through it. I'm not sure if NEC applies to fiber any more than NEC applies to plumbing.
Enjoy. I'm aware what fiber is, but the ONT is electrical and the buried fiber line has a conductive tracer line so yes, the NEC will apply. However, it looks like they added a new article in the last code update and fiber falls under 840 and not 830 as I previously stated. I will have to look up 840 to see if it has any burial depth requirements that would pertain to the discussion at hand. "Article 840 was created to accommodated FiOS (fiber-optic service), which brings an optical fiber to the customer premises and derives telephone, television and Internet service through an optical network terminal, or ONT." » www.cablinginstall.com/a ··· ons.html |
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