Frequently Asked Questions

It can feel like a lifetime when you are waiting for something you really want to experience, especially when you know someone else already has it and really enjoys it. We understand, and promise your fiber optic internet and telephone service will be worth the wait. Here’s a glimpse at why your patience is appreciated and necessary:

Building brand new networks take time

This means we’re laying new fiber in the ground or on utility poles. Consider how many miles of streets are in your city or just your neighborhood. In many of our Fiber communities, there are hundreds or even thousands of miles of fiber to be laid. That’s a lot of ground to cover, one foot of fiber at a time.

Before we invite you to sign up for Adams Fiber, we spend a lot of time developing a construction plan for your community and working with local authorities on permitting and other issues. Once a fiberhood qualifies for fiber service, there is more design, engineering and staking work to be done.

Underground investigations must be done
Before we can lay the fiber in the ground or bring in construction equipment such as boring machines, we have to figure out where the existing underground utilities are—wires, pipes, water lines, and so on. We follow the required process for marking the locations (“locates”) where each utility is supposed to be. This helps our construction crews when they are digging. You might see orange, blue, red, or yellow paint on sidewalks, streets, or even on your grass. Those are locating marks.

Private property access rights must be acquired
Our franchises, which are issued by a state or local government, give us the right to build our network in public rights-of-ways and easements in a particular jurisdiction. Where applicable, we have to separately secure the rights to construct on private property, such as in a multi-family apartment building, in a gated community, or across a private road.

Utility poles must be examined
Before we can pull fiber to utility poles and begin any aerial work, we determine if there’s space for our fiber on existing poles. Specific regulations and contractual obligations exist for placement of equipment on utility poles and may requirement coordination with third parties.

Even under the best of circumstances, some things can slow us down that are out of our control, such as:

• Weather and more weather. We still work outside when the weather doesn’t cooperate, but sometimes it is just impossible. Consider when you notice most road construction. You see more of that in spring and summer than in fall or winter. Usually, you won’t see road construction on snowy or rainy days. This pattern is similar for Fiber construction. Nearly everything stops or slows down in bad weather, including fiber network construction.

  
• There is just not enough daylight sometimes. Construction permits are usually only valid for certain days of the week and may limit times of the day crews can work. We might have enough crews to work longer days or over the weekends, but we must comply with the local restrictions.