In pictures: UFB - Chorus Fibre to the Home installation (part III)

Once your fibre is spliced (Part I), and your connection is good to go (Part II), it's time to get connected.

Step 15.

Once the fibre is connected, the installer registers the Subscriber Line ID (SLID) to the system operated by Chorus’s technology partners Alcatel-Lucent.


Step 16.

The ONT is owned by Chorus and represents the “last part of the network” .


Step 17.

The ONT is connected to the customer’s modem, in this instance an Orcon Genius modem which enables both a data connection and a Voice Over IP connection (voice service).


Step 18.



The speed test reveals an almost symmetrical service of just over 43Mbps. It might have been good news for the customer because he’s signed up for a 30Mbps plan - but there was a hiccup with Orcon’s frimware and it gave an incorrect reading. He is apparently getting the speed he paid for.

The End!



...but wait!


While the example we've shown in this photo-essay was laid inside a duct, not all fibre optic cable is laid inside a duct – sometimes the cable is buried directly in the ground, as is the case with the fibre laid in a neighbouring street.

Blown fibre single way ducts poke up from the ground at the homeowner’s boundary. The blown fibre ducts remain above ground at the pillar until a fibre install is ordered for the house. During the install the blown fibre duct (or singleway Ribbonet as it is officially called) is then buried underground.


At the street cabinet, a side door opens to reveal the blown fibre ducts bound together like coloured straws.


This article first appeared in Computerworld.