Fiber Infrastructure Glossary

Industry Terminology & Technical Reference

This glossary provides commonly used technical terminology in U.S. fiber infrastructure construction, including backbone, underground, aerial, FTTH, splicing, testing, and compliance standards.

Core Network Architecture

All fiber infrastructure installed outside buildings, including underground and aerial systems.
Fiber systems located inside buildings or facilities.
High-capacity fiber routes connecting cities, data centers, and major nodes.
Fiber infrastructure within a metropolitan area.
Segment connecting backbone networks to local access networks.
Final network segment delivering connectivity to homes or businesses.
Direct fiber connection to residential properties.
Fiber connection to residential or commercial premises.
Fiber terminated at building level.
General term for fiber-based access architectures.

Underground Construction

Trenchless method for underground conduit installation.
Directional drilling crossing under roads or utilities.
Traditional excavation method for conduit placement.
Method of installing conduit using a plow blade without full trench excavation.
Shallow narrow trenching for urban fiber deployment.
Protective duct housing fiber cables.
Smaller duct placed within conduit.
High-density polyethylene conduit.
Underground access box for fiber maintenance.
Large underground chamber for routing fiber.
Underground utility access structure.
Access enclosure for cable pulling.
Blowing fiber through conduit using compressed air.
Mechanical method for installing fiber cable.
Wire installed to locate buried conduit.

Aerial Construction

Steel cable supporting aerial fiber.
Attaching fiber cable to aerial strand.
Preparing utility poles for new cable attachment.
Repositioning cables to accommodate new fiber.
Support cable stabilizing utility pole.
Supporting wire for aerial cable.
Safety standard governing aerial installations.

Fiber Components

Optical cable carrying light signals.
Fiber for long-distance, high-capacity transmission.
Fiber used for shorter distances.
Fiber organized in flat ribbon configuration.
Cable containing large numbers of strands.
Unused fiber strands.
Active fiber transmitting data.
Protective tube housing fiber strands.

Splicing & Testing

Permanent joining of fiber strands.
Non-fusion fiber joining method.
Device measuring fiber loss and faults.
Signal strength measurement method.
Signal loss caused by splicing or connectors.
Amount of light reflected back.
Advanced performance testing.
Final network activation.
Enclosure protecting fiber splices.
Fiber termination rack.

Data Center Terms

Building entry point for fiber.
Interconnection room in data centers.
Connection between network circuits.
Redundant fiber routing.
Facility housing multiple carriers.

Compliance & Safety

Federal workplace safety authority.
Utility marking system before excavation.
Public land designated for utilities.
Traffic safety plan during construction.
Official authorization for construction work.
Inspection and compliance verification.
Final documentation of installed network.
Project completion documentation set.

Restoration & Project Delivery

Repair of roadway after excavation.
Sidewalk or slab repair.
Grass and soil repair.
Removal of equipment from site.
Final correction items.

Advanced & Specialized Terms

Fiber access technology.
Next-generation 10G PON standard.
Technology increasing fiber capacity.
Signal transmission delay.
Data transmission capacity.
Performance contract terms.
Strengthening infrastructure resilience.
Rapid repair of damaged fiber.
Route redundancy strategy.