What to know about fiber optic installation in Scottsdale
Digging between buildings needs a locate first
Arizona law bars digging in a public street, alley, right-of-way or utility easement without first finding out where underground facilities are. Arizona 811 says to contact it at least two full working days before digging. Operators must mark their lines within two working days of a request, and digging may not start before marking is complete.
Source: Arizona 811
Utility operators are part of the plan
The city's list of utility easement contacts says written authorization to encroach in an easement with a fence, wall or sign must come from each listed utility: APS, SRP and Lumen. Buried fiber is not a fence, wall or sign, so for any run that crosses an easement we ask the utilities and the city how it is handled, and we check which utilities serve your address first.
Fiber in the ground comes with a permit question
The city says an electrical permit is required to install, alter or repair electrical wiring on any building. Its amended exemption list names only minor repairs and maintenance and has no low-voltage or data exemption. We confirm how fiber is handled with Permit Services at 480-312-2500.
Carrier fiber is sold by address
CenturyLink (Lumen) lists fiber internet for Scottsdale, available by address. Cox Business sells business internet here too. Availability is checked address by address, so a building down the street can have a different answer. Fiber from a carrier ends at your building, and the cabling inside it is a separate job.
Source: CenturyLink, Scottsdale internet
What fiber is for
Fiber is used where copper can't reach or can't keep up. A copper Ethernet run tops out at 100 meters. Fiber runs for hundreds of meters to several kilometers, and it isn't affected by electrical interference or lightning-induced surges along the run. A fiber link between two buildings also keeps the buildings electrically separate.
- Links between buildings on a campus or business park.
- Backbone runs from a main equipment room to closets on other floors or far ends of a warehouse.
- Feeds to outdoor cameras, signs or LED walls that are far from the network.
- Connecting a carrier's fiber service to your network gear.
Single-mode and multimode
Single-mode fiber is the standard for long runs and is the safer choice for anything you want to last. Multimode is used for shorter runs inside a building and still shows up in older installs. We match the new cable to the gear on both ends and check what's already in place.
The cable is only half the job. Each end is terminated or spliced to connectors, and then every strand is tested for loss, so the link performs as designed.
Indoor, outdoor and underground
Indoor fiber is lighter and is pulled through ceilings and risers. Outdoor and underground runs use cable built for moisture and sun, often inside conduit. Where a run goes between buildings, route and depth depend on the property: lawns, parking lots, easements and existing utilities.
This is where the 811 call matters. A locate request is made before a trench or bore, and the marked lines are respected.
Fiber on Scottsdale properties
Where two buildings share a lot or a campus, a fiber link between them is the usual answer. If the dig reaches a public street, alley or easement, it needs a locate request first.
If you need a new carrier line, ask the carrier for an address check before you plan anything. We can then run the cable from the entry point to your rack.
What changes the cost
Cost depends on the distance, the number of strands, whether the route is indoors, in conduit or buried, and how many ends need terminating. Existing conduit saves a great deal. Trenching through concrete or landscaping adds time. We quote after a walkthrough.
Under the rest of the network
Fiber backbones sit under structured data cabling, feed business WiFi and give backup internet a second path. The Scottsdale page has the rest. For a buried run, call (602) 769-7992 and we will walk the route first.
