What is outside plant fiber optic cable?

Asked by: Jacob Reunion

In telecom, OSP stands for outside plant. Put simply, OSP refers to all of the equipment, cables and infrastructure that are located outside of a building.

What is an OSP fiber optic cable?

Outside Plant Fiber Optic Cables
HCA’s outside plant (OSP) fiber optic cables are designed to withstand the installation and stresses inherent in cables exposed to the external environment. Tough polyethylene jackets with carbon black protect the fibers from the harsh sun and water conditions.

What is outdoor fiber optic cable?

Fiber optic cable provides protection for the fibers from the environment encountered in an installation. Outdoor Fiber Optic Cables are designed strong to protect the fibers to operate safely in complicated outdoor environment, they can be buried directly, pulled in conduit, strung aerially or even placed underwater.

How is outside plant cable different from indoor cables?

Outdoor cables will generally be black polyethylene (PE) which resists moisture and sunlight exposure. Indoor cables use flame-retardant jackets that can be color-coded to identify the fibers inside the cable.

What is the difference between indoor and outdoor fiber optic cable?

Outdoor cables are designed to protect the fibers from years of exposure to moisture. Indoor cables are what we call “tight-buffered” cables, where the glass fiber has a primary coating and secondary buffer coatings that enlarge each fiber to 900 microns—about 1mm or 1/25-inch, to make fiber easier to work with.

What are the 2 types of fiber optic cable?

There are two types of fibre optic cables – multimode and single-mode. Multimode fibre is capable of carrying multiple light rays (modes) at the same time as it has varying optical properties at the core. Single-mode fibre has a much smaller core size (9 microns).

What does OSP and ISP stands for?

ISP stands for Inside Plant and OSP stands for Outside Plant. According to Building Industry Construction Service International (BICSI), OSP is any network infrastructure installed external to buildings. Our scope includes optical fiber cabling, balanced twisted-pair cabling, and support structures to link locations.

Which type of fiber is primarily used for outside plant installations?

singlemode fiber

1. Most outside plant installations are singlemode fiber. The longer lengths and often higher bandwidth requirements of OSP cabling mean singlemode fiber is needed.

Can you run fiber outside?

Fiber is routinely installed outdoors thanks to it’s effective signal transmission distance and high-bandwidth capability. And surprisingly, outdoor-rated fiber optic cables are often stronger and more durable than their copper counterparts. However, choosing the proper cable can be daunting.

Which cable type is mostly used for outdoor applications?

Loose tube cables are the most commonly deployed outdoor cable design, featuring a central strength member, stranded buffer tubes containing loose optical fibers, and fiber counts up to 432 F.

How do I know if my cable is outdoor rated?

The information printed on a cable jacket will usually tell you everything you need to know. Typically this includes the manufacturer or UPC code, jacket material, any electrical standards it meets, temperature rating, and frequently a material rating that will tell you where the cable can be run in a building.

What is the fiber optic cable Colour code for outdoor cables?

black

(Outdoor cables are generally black for protection against UV light and markings are printed on the cable.)