skip to main content

The Process of Installing Fiber Internet

Published Tuesday Mar 15th, 2022
fiber pole article

At VNET Fiber, we prioritize building, installing, and maintaining high-quality, reliable, fast fiber internet.

Like any cutting-edge technology, constructing and providing fiber internet in your community and home is, well, complicated! So getting it right matters for reliability and speed.

But "getting it right" can sometimes take a bit longer than many communities and residents would like!

While we realize that you "can't wait" to have high-speed fiber internet in your home, finally, we'd like to explain the industry-wide process of installing fiber broadband infrastructure, so you will better understand all that goes into providing this service. We hope you will understand why we ask you to bear with us as we work to install the best service possible!

What is "Fiber Make-Ready Construction"?

Installing fiber internet is subject to strict industry and governmental standards. From planning to permitting to shovel-ready groundbreaking, wiring, and launching, it's a step-by-step process to make sure we follow regulations and limit any potential long-term problems.

Specifically, when we build the fiber broadband network in your community, we build it to "Fiber Make-Ready" conditions.

"Make-Ready," a term used broadly in the construction industry, describes the process and standard of building infrastructure to access and connect to a utility access point—in our case, a fiber broadband internet "pole."

As you can imagine, given the large network of users of this utility (who doesn't use the internet these days??), the fiber broadband network must be properly installed. Fiber Make-Ready is the universal standard VNET Fiber follows to ensure the highest quality build possible for your internet connection.

Steps in the Fiber Make-Ready Process

Below is the multistep process to getting to Fiber Make-Ready conditions.

Step 1: VNET Fiber reaches out to the "pole owner" of the fiber—usually another utility—asking permission to connect to the fiber pole. This is a lengthy process involving construction, environmental, financial, labor, and telecommunications regulations.

Step 2: The fiber broadband pole owner runs an engineering and technical assessment on the capacity for that pole to accept more equipment for another connection and whether it can provide sufficient high-speed fiber internet to the VNET Fiber customer base without additional upgrades. Many factors are considered, including safety and basic spacing on the pole.

Step 3: Based on the pole owner's assessment of capacity, space, safety, and other factors, the pole owner sends a "Fiber Make-Ready" cost estimate to VNET Fiber. This cost estimate must be pre-paid before any construction work can begin.

Step 4: Once the pole owner concludes that there are no significant issues and has received pre-payment, every other company and provider then sends utility workers to the pole to adjust their existing wiring and equipment to accommodate VNET Fiber.

Step 5: After space for the new fiber equipment on the pole has been made; the pole owner issues a work permit (which, again, must comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations) to VNET Fiber.

Step 6: Finally, after all the above steps have been completed, VNET Fiber can install its fiber equipment on the pole.

Fiber Broadband is Worth the Wait!

We know this seems like a lengthy process. But the steps above help ensure that the internet infrastructure in your community is not overburdened—or unsafe—to bring into your neighborhood.

VNET Fiber's fiber internet will be more stable, more sustainable, and higher quality because we have taken the time to install it to Fiber Make-Ready conditions.

In sum, installing fiber internet takes some time and is subject to strict standards of Make-Ready construction. But trust us—it is well worth the wait!

Your internet will be more reliable, more efficient, and much faster because we took the time to install it to the best industry standards.

Please follow VNET Fiber's social media accounts for more information about our services and helpful tips on making the most of your high-speed fiber internet!