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Module Four - Activity 4 - Splicing Fibre

Splicing is an activity which can cost a lot of money, both because it must be done by well trained personnel, and because it generally requires very expensive equipment to splice well.

However, if a community is not able to make the equipment and personnel investment required to purchase and use an automated splicing machine, this doesn't mean that they don't have the opportunity to bring fibre into their community - it simply means that they have to be more creative about how they accomplish the task.

Communities who can afford the cable, but not the expensive splicing machines have the option of preparing the cables themselves, and hiring a third party to complete the splicing to their specifications, or they may use mechanical connectors rather than splice the cable.

Mechanical connectors however are very expensive, finicky to install, and can be more "lossy" than automated splices.

Automated Fibre Optic
Splicing Machine

Fibre optic system specifications will come from a trained person knowing what an acceptable loss budget is for the entire system. This includes knowing what acceptable loss is for each connection or device within the system, and whether the losses are within the limitations of what the system can handle. A trained fibre optic professional will be able to perform acceptance testing on each join to see where data losses are taking place within the system, and should be able to troubleshoot and fix unacceptable losses.

Splicing is an extremely important part of a fibre-optic network, and good splices are key to having a fibre optic system which works well. Consult a professional with up to date knowledge to ensure that the equipment and materials obtained will give the desired result, have one or more people properly trained, and ensure that they follow ALL instructions EXACTLY.