“To be honest: I don’t want a huge construction site in my front yard. They’re going to tear everything up.”
That concern is understandable. In most cases, however, the fiber-optic buildout on your property is much more manageable than you might expect. How much work is actually needed depends on the cable route, ground conditions, existing conduits, and the way your house is built. The work is often completed in a short time.
In some cases, small excavation pits and a hole drilled through the exterior wall are enough. In others, an open cable trench is needed, or a new cable route must be created inside the building. Modern methods do not make the construction site invisible – but they can significantly limit the disruption.
First, Optical fiber lines are laid through the community and into each street. Modern installation methods often allow opened sections to be closed again the same day. How long the work takes depends on the construction method, surface, and local conditions.
For the home connection, the line is then routed from the street to the exterior wall of your home. In many cases, a device known as a pneumatic mole is used. It requires only two small excavation pits: one at the property line and one at the house. The line is installed underground between these two points without having to open the entire route. This video shows how a pneumatic mole is used to install Optical fiber cables, helping protect the front yard and enabling efficient installation.
However, a pneumatic mole cannot be used on every property. Where ground conditions are more complex, a conventional cable trench, approximately 15 cm wide and 30 cm deep, must be excavated from the property line to the point where the cable enters the house, though this is rarely necessary. Existing empty conduits on your property can often be used as well, which may avoid additional work.
After Optical fiber has been brought to the exterior wall of the building, our trained professionals install the home connection and the Optical fiber outlet. The installation location differs between single-family and multi-family homes, and the routing generally follows the existing copper network.
For a standard installation in a single-family home, the Optical fiber outlet is installed within up to three [AK2.1]meters of the Optical fiber home connection, which is usually located in the basement.
In multi-family homes, Telekom routes the Optical fiber from the home connection through riser cables in the stairwell and into your apartment. There, the Optical fiber outlet is installed within up to three meters of your apartment door. Telekom handles the installation of the riser cables. Existing cable routes or conduits can make installation easier. Depending on the building, drilling, cable ducts, or surface-mounted routing may also be necessary.
If the standard installation of the Optical fiber outlet (up to three meters from the Optical fiber entry point in a single-family home or up to three meters after entering the apartment in a multifamily building) does not work for you, you have the following options:
A) Prepare the cable route yourself in advance
B) Book the “Optical fiber installation” service
C) Use an extension box
Especially in apartment buildings, new routing methods can reduce the need for additional work. One option is particularly thin fiber-optic cables that can be adhered along baseboards, corners, or wall edges. They can be installed quickly and blend unobtrusively into the building. These adhesive solutions can avoid or reduce drilling and alterations to the building structure. However, they are not suitable for every building and every cable route. The right solution must therefore be determined for the specific building.
Even expansion work designed to minimize impact remains a construction measure, so there may briefly be noise, dirt, or restrictions on the property. Once the work is complete, all opened surfaces are closed again and fully restored.
In the end, however, it is a worthwhile investment in high-performance infrastructure with long-term benefits.
Every connection is different because buildings, properties, and cable routes vary.
Fiber-optic expansion requires work on your property and, in some cases, inside your building. In most cases, modern methods help keep the impact to a minimum, but complex conditions may require a cable trench, drilling, or additional cable routes.
It’s understandable to be concerned about construction work at your home. However, the actual level of work varies from building to building.