pb5053 Yes its a multi phase approach.
First, the hard labor… a contractor such as York Trenching and Boring installs the pathway… the orange HDPE conduit with the white pull strings inside. They also replace the smaller green pedestals with much larger ones that can fit both the current cable system and the ends of the cut conduit runs where fiber will be pulled. Putting everything in conduit will make future changes so much easier. Minimal or no more digging! Back in the day they’d dig a trench, lay a cable down and just throw dirt on it. Direct Bury cable has been a thorn in Verizon’s side and a big hurdle for them not deploying FIOS in the area. This is a very labor intensive, expensive process but once done its done. Comcast did the same thing but filled it with a combination of fiber and coax cable. SECV’s new conduits will be 100% fiber. No coaxal cable will be used anywhere to deliver this new service.
When the conduit pathways are all done, a cable contractor such as ECE (Eustis Cable Enterprises) will pull the fiber and hang fiber optic taps in these larger green pedestals. They attach the fiber to the string and pull from box to box.
Then when all the fiber is in the pipes and all the taps are done, a third contractor, Williams Communication or something like that comes in and splices the various fiber runs together and cuts the excess to length or puts sevice coils in the back of the big green pedestals where there is excess. They put the splice boxes and eventually test and label everything.
This is the phase I’m at… They have been splicing the fiber tails for a few weeks now and I would imagine at some point they will open all of these lids and test for light signal and number the taps. When fiber is turned up, I’ve noticed for example in the Sagebrook Drive development by the Exeter School bus garage, all the fiber taps are numbered with a silver sharpie. I just threw a random address at SECV’s site and it said “congrats, fiber is available” message.
I was told by SECV CSR that when its ready they will put a door hanger. Its possible that does happen but I’m not quite at that phase yet. It has to be close.
I ran the fiber from my utility room to my garage where the cables come in, so it should be pretty easy for the installer to connect up.
The run from my house to the pedestal is in conduit. Anything serviced since 2015 or so would be in a conduit. They’ll tie the fiber cable to the coax cable and pull it through. If your cable run is older than that, it might be direct buried and if that’s the case, York Trenching and Boring will install a conduit from the pedestal to your house. This is done only if records indicate you don’t have a conduit already.
They put a conduit from my box to my house when they replaced the cable a few years ago. I nicked it with a weed Wacker and it made the signals really low - still usable but low and they replaced the whole run free of charge back then.
What I’ve seen in Exeter township so far.
St Lawrence has a lot of fiber taps hanging - but fiber is coiled up by existing cable nodes awaiting splicing.
Reifton has a lot of fiber taps up on the south side of 422 like in the fire company area. Cuts through some of the northern side via Beechwood Drive and Oley Turnpike Rd. It also goes up to the Orthodontist office right before Autozone and down 562 all the way to Boyertown. It doesn’t pass any further because thats a Comcast territory starting at the McDonalds / Autozone.
A lot of church lane, Oley Turnpike Road - down to Oley, and Church lane up and down to 5 points - all wired up.
Digging near Dunham Dr, that whole development and across from it behind Kindercare.
I think a lot of Pennsylvania Ave is done. Shelbourne Rd is done. Bent Brook Circle has conduits going in (phase 1).
Farming RIdge is almost done, and the area around Jacksonwald Elementary is done.
562 from Owatin Creek down to Stonersville is all hung and awaiting splicing and activation.
Nothing on the Lorane side is started yet (near that Elementary). But I hear over by the Library that development had conduits going in, as did Crestwood.
422 business hasn’t been touched until you go down to where the split is, like right near where Sheetz used to be (Birdsboro Mart).
All of Exeter will get done this year, and then I think they will branch down to Flying hills, Mohnton, and into Cumru.
Amity, Douglassville, Birdsboro downtown, Union, Earl, District, Oley all have been done and online for some time now.
There’s a little overbuild in Oley and Earl where SECV did not have a system before and is now the competitor to Comcast. They plan to do this in Cumru and West Lawn as well. I’d personally love to see them overbuild more of Comcast with the fiber system, maybe Mt Penn up to the CVS, all the way down Friedensburg Rd, and back to oley and cover all of Pennside, Butter Lane, Mt Park, etc.. in the process. Then they could tie in to Church lane from Dautrich rd.
A lot of people are sick and tired of Comcast or just want a choice.
