The increase in fiber-to-the-home deployments in recent years prompted a review of ice and wind loading effects on fiber optic aerial cables, hardware and associated field practices. This work included a review of recent studies of the nature and impact of ice and wind loading on aerial cable plant. It also included a review of the 2007 version of National Electric Safety Code (NESC) that was published in August of 2006. These new studies and the resulting NESC revisions acknowledge that regional ice and wind loading expectations should change. Some regions experience more ice and wind while others experience less than currently used in most system design.The NESC proposes a set of safety and regulatory requirements for aerial cable plant, and these are commonly accepted as requirements by local authorities. The NESC does not explicitly define component performance and network reliability. Given the possible environmentally caused system failure modes for aerial fiber-to-the-home, especially aerial optical drops, it is necessary to consider a broader range of considerations for the cable, hardware, installation practices and right of way clearance in order to maintain or improve functional survivability in ice and wind storms. These considerations are reviewed in the context of the design, testing and installation of an aerial optical drop.
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