C H A P T E R
8
GETTING STARTED
IN FIBER OPTICS
PAUL ROSENBERG
Contractors have many reasons to be interested in the installation of fiber optics.
Since contractors already know how to install cables, the work is generally clean,
and it is easier to supervise than most electrical projects. However, you need to
know more about fiber optics than installation techniques to have a successful
fiber optics business. Learning about the basics of fiber optics and getting hands-
on training in the techniques of installation are important and essential subjects,
but in reality, they are only the first step to a business in fiber optics. The problem
is that getting started in fiber optic installations is not without pain.
The first obstacle you have to deal with is an investment in training. Training
can be acquired in several ways, some of which can be expensive. No matter how
the training is handled, it must be done well. It would be business suicide to send
an untrained crew out to terminate fibers. The cost of replacing just one cable run
would cover a significant amount of training expense. And any way you look at
it, teaching someone to perform fiber optics installation is not as simple as teach-
ing someone to bend 1/2-inch thinwall.
One training method is to send your people to a special school. Although this
usually provides excellent training, it can be expensive, and usually your people
will get hands-on experience with only one brand of equipment. Alternatively,
you may send your people to an installers conference to give them hands-on
experience with products from a variety of manufacturers.
107
108 CHAPTER 8 GETTING STARTED IN FIBER OPTICS
You may wish to train one or two of your best people and have them teach
the rest of the crew. Make sure the ones you send are very good teachers. When
they return, you must give them plenty of time to teach their newfound skills to
the others. Make sure you buy enough materials for them to practice with (and
throw away when they are done).
Another obstacle to getting into the fiber optics business is the cost of tools
and equipment. This cost is not necessarily a tremendous impediment to getting
started in fiber optics; it is one that continues to grow as a fiber optic business
grows. For example, it is not difficult to get started installing multimode fiber,
glued terminations, and perhaps mechanical splices. You need only a termination
kit for the type of connectors you will install and some basic test equipment.
It is more difficult (and more expensive) if you want to take on a singlemode
project. You will probably need to buy or rent a fusion splicer and new types of
ancillary equipment. Later, if you want to take a larger project, you will need a
better fusion splicer, and so on. And due to the quick pace of technology, your
tools and testers may become obsolete long before they are worn out.
The difficulty of having to build business relationships with an entirely new
group of people is another obstacle to getting into fiber optics. Electrical contrac-
tors have been dealing with electrical wholesalers for many years and are quite
used to the process. Unfortunately, electrical wholesalers do not always deal with
fiber cables and associated materials, although the number of those involved with
fiber optics is growing rapidly. This means electrical contractors are forced to
deal with new people, buying directly from manufacturers, through a specialty
supply house, or via mail order.
Another obstacle for contractors is keeping up to date with technologies.
Since today most technologies change quickly, information has a short life
span maybe three or four years. That means that if you were to learn everything
possible about fiber this week, the information could be almost entirely out of
date three or four years from now. Resign yourself to this idea. Subscribe to the
appropriate magazines and devote some time regularly to reading articles about
the state of the art technology.
WADING INTO THE MARKET
The best way to enter the market as an installer of optical fiber is to wade in
slowly.
1. Learn as much about the technology as possible. Learn about the fibers,
the cable types, testing, and terminations. Also learn about communica-
tions and data networks.
2. Train your workers in installation and termination techniques. Buy some
basic tools and test equipment and give them time to practice. Make sure
that they are competent before you go on to the next step.
CHAPTER 8 GETTING STARTED IN FIBER OPTICS 109
3. Contract a small job. Take one small job and give it lots of attention.
Watch all of the details on the project and note any difficult or unex-
pected parts. You can probably either subcontract a small installation
from another electrical contractor or contract directly from one of your
existing customers.
4. Begin to advertise. (We go through more details on advertising in a
moment.)
5. Step up to larger and more complex projects. Move up slowly, and never
take more than one step at a time. For instance, moving from a 50-ter-
mination project to an 80-termination project or from a 50-termination
multimode to a 50-termination singlemode project is fine. However,
going from a 50-termination multimode project to an 80-termination
singlemode project may not be a good idea.
Remember, initially you will sell installation of cables, termination of fibers,
splicing, and testing to customers. As you proceed further into the fiber optics
business, you can sell design services as well.
GETTING BUSINESS
The best place to get fiber optic installation business is from your existing cus-
tomers, although how much fiber work you can get from them will vary depend-
ing on their businesses. One place to get business is from other contractors who
need a subcontractor with fiber experience.
Some other typical fiber customers are process-control people; network man-
agers in business, college, and institutional settings; utility companies and cable
television companies. Also work on getting referrals from distributors and
component dealers. These people often have customers who ask them about
installers. Give your vendors a sales pitch and ask them for their referrals.
Advertising is a good way to get business. The first thing to do is to put
together a brochure. Be sure the brochure stresses experience and references. To
get started in fiber optics you must convince customers that you know what you
are doing. Distribute the brochure to your existing customers. Next, you should
send copies of the brochure to all potential customers in your area. Follow up on
the mailing with telephone calls to the recipients, and follow up on the calls with
another mailing. Remember that ad campaigns such as this take time, but they
are usually fairly successful.
As an installer of optical fiber systems, your customers will expect you to act
like a consultant. This means you will need to dress appropriately for customer
visits, and in general behave more like a consultant. (Of course, this means
you can charge more for your design and troubleshooting services, just as does a
consultant.)
110 CHAPTER 8 GETTING STARTED IN FIBER OPTICS
Customers will expect you to understand communications technology and to
help them find answers to their communications problems. Also, you will have to
understand data networking, since a big part of your job will be helping your cus-
tomers switch from copper to fiber networks and control wiring.
Tooling Up
Certain items are absolutely necessary for fiber work. If you are going to get
started in the fiber optics business, you must have the right equipment to get the
fibers in place and terminate and test them. No matter how you start, you will
need the following:
A test kit or power meter and source for loss testing
Swivel pulling eyes
Breakaway swivel
Microscopes for inspecting polished connectors
Termination kit or polishing tools, polishing films, adhesive syringes,
cleavers, stripping tools, solvent and wipes, canned air, and adhesives
These things are in addition to the equipment and tools you already have for
the installation of wire and cable. Fortunately, most of the items on this list are
relatively inexpensive. In general, it is best to rent an OTDR if you need one for a
singlemode fiber project. They generally are not needed for short-length multi-
mode projects. The price of OTDRs is too high unless you use them all the time,
and prices should continue to drop. It does not make sense to put out a signifi-
cant amount of money for equipment until you get firmly entrenched in the opti-
cal fiber business.
OVERSEEING FIBER INSTALLATIONS
With fiber work, getting a job right is more difficult than getting it done on time.
This is why it is critical that you know how to supervise the work of your people.
Be willing to look over their shoulders on the job to make sure they are doing
things right
Mistakes in fiber work, especially regarding terminations, are difficult to
detect. A mistake that could keep the entire system from working might not show
up until the system is completely installed and turned on. (Think about that for a
minute it is a scary situation.)
Job number one is to assure that all the terminations are done correctly. Ter-
minating fiber is delicate work; make sure that your people work like jewelers,
not like framers.
Make sure your people have all the right parts; make sure they don t rush;
make sure they have a well-lit work area; make sure they have test equipment;
and make sure they use it!
CHAPTER 8 GETTING STARTED IN FIBER OPTICS 111
Next, make certain they mark every run of cable and termination well. Invest
money in cable markers and numbers; invest time in written cable and termina-
tion schedules and cable plant documentation DO NOT lose track of which
cable is which.
Inspection
Inspection is a bit of a wild card in fiber installations. Since optical fibers do not
carry electricity, they are not exactly the domain of the electrical inspector. And
since electrical inspectors do not always inspect communications wiring, they are
even less likely to inspect fiber installations. Nonetheless, take a moment to check
with local electrical inspectors before you do work in their jurisdiction. Also,
make sure you are familiar with the requirements of National Electrical Code
Article 770.
Always make sure that you know who will inspect your work before you give
your customer a final price. You must know what the inspector will expect of
you and what he or she will be looking for. In most cases, the inspector of a fiber
installation will be the person who signs the contract. In some cases, it will be a
third party. Be especially careful of third-party inspectors, since they are getting
paid to find your mistakes.
The bottom line in installation quality is signal strength from one end of the
network to the other. But be careful of other details that may be noticed by an
inspector. Among other things, many inspectors will give a lot of attention to
proper cable marking, mechanical protection, and workmanship.
HOW MUCH DO I CHARGE?
Once you have made the decision to enter the fiber installation market, you have
to decide how to come up with prices for the jobs you will bid. You also will need
to become familiar with the RFP process (RFP stands for request for proposal ).
In the network world, an RFP is more or less the same as a bid document, except
it is not as detailed. An RFP gives you the general details of a project and asks you
to furnish a complete design, schedule, and price. Completing the RFP process is
similar to figuring and bidding a design/build project.
The first thing you have to do when putting together an estimate is figure out
your real costs. Add an appropriate amount for overhead to these costs. This
should leave you with a comfortable base price. (If not, raise the price until you
are comfortable. Never intentionally take a job that will cause you to lose money.)
Pricing fiber optic work is difficult because it is easy to leave things out. To
avoid such errors, think through the design of the installation carefully. Also, put
a bit of contingency money in your estimates to compensate for surprises. A small
percentage of your total cost should be all that you need. This is especially impor-
tant while technology continues to change so quickly.
112 CHAPTER 8 GETTING STARTED IN FIBER OPTICS
In general, the parts of an optical fiber installation that you must account for
are cables, terminations, splices, jumpers, attenuators, breakout kits, distribution
cabinets, cross-connects, patch panels, outlets and jacks, grounding clamps, cable
lubricants, pulling hardware, conduit, inner duct, racks, tie-wraps, and cable
markers.
For pricing very small fiber installations, it is generally best to calculate your
material expenses first, and then calculate your time in bulk. That is, figure your
labor as X number of days for a two-man crew. On larger jobs, you should use
the itemized estimating method you use for standard power estimates. You can
find fiber labor units from different industry sources. Developing your own is a
pretty big chore.
General guideline numbers can be useful when putting together an estimate.
Remember, however, that such numbers are for informational purposes only.
Do not use them for pricing your own projects; it is the height of foolishness to
take a contract without knowing your costs.
Once you get competitive with fiber bidding, remember that estimating and
bidding are very different operations. The purpose of estimating is to know the
lowest price for which you can perform any given project and not lose money.
The purpose of bidding is get the highest possible price for a project. For more
detailed guidelines on estimating, see Chapter 14.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. The best place to get fiber optic installation business is from __________
a. trade journals.
b. existing customers.
c. vendors.
d. distributors.
2. When first starting out in fiber optics, if needed, it is best to rent a(n)
________________ rather than purchase one.
a. power meter
b. termination kit
c. OTDR
d. pulling eye
3. The purpose of a(n) ________________ is to get the highest possible price
for a project.
a. RFP
b. bid
c. estimate
d. guideline
CHAPTER 8 GETTING STARTED IN FIBER-OPTICS 113
4. The purpose of a(n) ________________ is to know the lowest price to
complete a project and not lose money.
a. RFP
b. bid
c. estimate
d. guideline
3. Installed fiber must be ________________
a. documented.
b. tested.
c. terminated correctly.
d. all of the above.
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