Sure, fiber networks are ‘greener.’ What about building them?

Fiber companies have made being environmentally friendly a central part of their messaging—especially when it comes to comparing the technology to its counterparts, like cable and copper. Fiber is often referred to as a “passive” technology because it is uses passive optical networking, or PON, technology, which requires unpowered optical splitters instead of electricity to power it. However, Dan Hays, telecommunications leader at PwC, said that like most construction projects, the installation of fiber optic networks can cause “significant land disruption and energy usage.” In part, due to the transportation and usage of heavy equipment for trenching and burying of vast networks of cables. Installing underground fiber cables depends on trenching equipment to carve into the earth, reaching depths of over 3 feet. As trenchers uproot vegetation and loosen soil, they could destroy forest understories, grasslands or delicate wetland environments. Hays said the broadband construction industry has a number of  techniques at its disposal to minimize their impact. That could include the use of existing telephone and electric utility poles to hang cables or employing newer technologies such as micro-trenching and horizontal drilling to minimize land disturbance.