Fiber Optic & Cable Line Location in DFW
Independent Line Location for Commercial & Residential
WOOD Inspection Services takes an all-encompassing underground line location approach with your property, first using traditional location equipment and marking those visible utilities. Then we scan the area with GPR for additional utilities, fiber optics and cables. The data could be collected in a grid format and then turned into a 3D map of the ground and infrastructure.
Our family owned and operated company then uses decades of experience to interpret the results. Our inspectors are highly trained, first receiving equipment certification and then hands-on experience in the field to learn how to read the mapping with accuracy.
Texas 811 Offers Limited Service
Texas 811 is a vital service, and you must (it’s the law) call (DIGTESS or 811) before digging to make sure you don’t hit any buried utility lines, causing a life-threatening situation or outage. But Texas 811 only goes so far.
The service only inspects active cable lines, so they are best equipped to help homeowners who need to find their in-use cable line.
For large corporate campuses, new neighborhoods, undeveloped land, schools or ballfields, Texas 811 will only locate lines to the main facility — not throughout the entire property.
Additionally, public inspectors would not be able to map an entire property to reveal inactive lines or nearby active lines that can be connected for the least amount of cost, not to mention locating the unknown amount of “dark fiber” that could exist virtually anywhere. Dark fiber refers to the fiber optic cables telecom companies started laying down in the 1990s as the Internet grew, anticipating needing it in the future. Today much of that fiber is still unused.
Why Cable Companies Fail to Locate All Fiber Optic and Cable Lines
Verizon, AT&T, Spectrum, these internet and phone service providers typically own and manage underground cabling infrastructure. However, when it comes to locating all underground lines, hiring an independent utility locator is more reliable and comprehensive.
You only have to look at reviews to discover that it’s a very long wait to get these companies to arrive on your property to locate their lines. And that is exactly what they will locate — their own lines. They do not locate lines from other carriers or inactive buried fiber optic and cable lines. On top of that, they do not provide reports to help answer questions such as, “How can my business connect a second building on our property?” or “How can I locate lines for all buildings on a large corporate or school campus?”
Mapping DMARC locations from multiple buildings is typically out of scope as well. DMARC indicates the demarcation point where networking, cable and phone services enter a building. By hiring Wood Inspection Services, our company can help show relocation and extension options between multiple buildings.
Lastly, cable locations may not be exactly where they are marked. Deviations in the ground can occur over time. WOOD Inspection’s fiber optic location services can iron out any differences by creating an accurate, real-time image of the ground and what is contained within it.
That way you can get your project underway with confidence, and who knows? Maybe we’ll even find a nearby unknown cable line that will save you time and money with your new construction.
