How to read a fibre optic quotation

A fibre quotation is easy to compare on price and hard to compare on substance. Two documents can describe the same route, quote the same core count, and still be selling very different outcomes. Here is what to look for before the number.

First, the survey. A quotation produced without a site visit is an estimate wearing a quotation letterhead. Ask whether the route has been walked, whether existing duct capacity was measured, and what happens to the price if a leg has to be trenched. A supplier who has surveyed will tell you where the risk sits; one who has not will discover it on site, at your cost.

Second, the loss budget. Every link has a calculable optical loss: so much per kilometre of fibre, so much per splice, so much per connector. A serious quotation states the budgeted loss for the link and commits to meeting it. Without that figure there is no objective test of whether the finished job is good.

Third, the testing. Ask what the link will be tested with and what you will receive. An OTDR trace per core and a light source and power meter reading are the evidence that the loss budget was met. A certificate with no traces behind it proves only that a certificate was printed.

Fourth, the documentation. As-built drawings, a labelling schedule and a port or core schedule are what let the next engineer work on the network without tracing cable by hand. Their absence is invisible on the day and expensive for years.

Fifth, headroom. A link that just passes today will fail as connectors age and splices settle. Ask what margin the design leaves and what capacity upgrade the installed cable supports without a new pull. The answer separates a network from an installation.

None of this makes the cheapest quotation wrong. It makes the comparison honest, which is the only way to know what you are actually buying.