ᐅ Fiber optic cables cannot be installed using blown-in methods.

Hello. After signing up for internet with Telekom 13 months ago and living in the house for 4 months now, a subcontractor for the fiber optic cable finally showed up last week. Since they arrived unannounced, unfortunately I wasn’t at home. The technicians were apparently nearby. After about 10 to 15 minutes, they left again. The cable wouldn’t go through. It was supposed to be blown in from the utility room into the conduit. Their explanation was that there was no air flow in the conduit?? Huh?

At our neighbors’ house (also a new build) they were there briefly as well but couldn’t blow the cable in either. Their explanation: Possibly a kink in the cable.

Telekom of course doesn’t know anything, and the subcontractor just says it needs to be checked.

What are your experiences? What advice can you give us? The empty conduit was installed in advance at both houses by a contractor. Our conduit runs under the foundation and then straight to the street.

We had a pull cord inside the conduit, so that excuse doesn’t apply. If they had blown a pull cord through and then pulled their cable through it—in our case, it was about 70m (230 feet)—then two people didn’t want to do it.

Call and schedule another appointment. Do you have the company’s contact?

As far as I know, a fiber optic cable is blown through the conduit using an air cushion, basically a strong airflow. That’s the standard method they always use, so I don’t think they would rely on a pull wire.

I don’t understand the comment about no air in the line—you don’t have a vacuum there anyway, especially since they bring air along to push the cable through.

A bend or kink makes more sense to me; after some meters there will be a sharp resistance, and that’s understandable.

I would reorder the cable installation, this time with a scheduled appointment, and they should put in a bit more effort.

If the pipes are kinked or damaged, you cannot push the fiber through with air because there is either a hole somewhere or the fiber no longer fits through. This happens more often when the pipes are installed improperly or when construction vehicles damage the pipe.

I am currently working on it. The frustrating part is being passed back and forth between the telecom provider, subcontractor, and sub-subcontractor. However, I am continuing to apply pressure.

Are there end caps on the speedpipes? It’s quite common in new developments that the installer of the empty conduits places closure caps inside at the house connections. The next subcontractor responsible for blowing in the cables obviously has to remove them. Otherwise, nothing can be done.

@Tx-25 if you need more assistance, there is also an Andreas Wilke from Telekom who is happy to help, or the Telekom Hilft team is directly on site. There is also a dedicated VDSL FTTH section there.