Fibre Optics Installation

All residents in the construction area will receive a letter notifying them that F3 will be starting construction. This work includes the use of existing poles in the public right of way.

The fibre cable is attached to existing utility poles.

F3's construction team visits your home to install a connection point (small grey box) to your house. They will obtain your permission to do so before beginning this work.

The F3 team feeds the fibre from the utility pole to your house.

Once construction starts in a neighbourhood, it can typically take 2-4 months to complete the area before the fibre is ready for service. If you are an existing customer, TELUS will contact you to discuss options before converting your existing services over to the fibre optic network.

There are two main methods of installing fibre: hanging it aerially, or burying it underground. Sometimes, it requires a combination of the two. It depends upon the area, the property and ground as to which method is used. But even when F3 has to bury the equipment, the work will not affect your property in any significant way. It is their goal to restore all property to the previous condition per municipal guidelines.

The paint lines and flags mark the approximate location of buried utilities.

Taking precautions before installing the new fibre cable is vital. Before F3 begins digging, they hire a company to locate and mark where existing utility infrastructure lies. F3 also returns to mark your actual property once it’s time to connect the fibre to your home. The paint helps them ensure they are drilling and installing the new conduit safely away from utilities. The paint is water based; therefore, it dissolves after a few weeks. Following some rainfall or cutting of the grass, there should be no trace. Flags will be removed by the construction technicians once the work is completed. 

The most likely inconvenience is the installation of a small flush-to-the-ground ‘flower pot’ to house a temporary conduit connection. This flower pot will be removed once the new conduit is connected and buried to the home.

If your home has a conduit already in place, and is usable, F3 will simply pull the fibre through. They will restore any impact to your property once the work is complete and the weather permits. If your grass has been disturbed, they will clean the area and plant grass seed.

F3 will avoid cutting driveways unless absolutely necessary. If they need to cut into your driveway, it will typically entail cutting a small ‘coring’ hole. These holes are repaired afterwards, usually by filling in the holes with new concrete. The repair depends on the size and scope of the work, so they will determine the necessary work required to repair the area on a case-by-case basis. 

Depending on the area, F3 will either build a connection underground or install it aerially. For an underground installation, they drill a path for a conduit pipe to run from the below ground ‘flower pot’ box they install, to the house. The drilling is conducted using either a small plow or compact drilling machinery. Both are relatively non-intrusive with very little ground disturbance, as opposed to excavating your lawn with large machinery. There are instances where a service box is required to be installed in addition to the temporary flower pot. In these instances, they make every effort to install this service box in the City’s boulevard.

If there is no boulevard space available, the service box has to be installed in the utility right-of-way. For an aerial installation, F3 connects a fibre cable from the termination point along the aerial network (typically installed next to a pole and attached to the aerial strand) and directly to the house. A small termination box is installed onto the side of the house. From there, a different kind of fire-resistant, bend-insensitive fibre is installed and attached to the active equipment inside the customer’s home for safety and ease of connection.

It is unlikely your lawn will be significantly impacted. In most cases, F3 will employ a less intrusive process of using a small vibrating plow or compact directional drill. Sometimes, small holes need to be dug along the route. A small hole will be dug at the base of the termination location to bring the conduit up and into the termination box.