We look at the papers and guess that maybe a mouse chewed the cable 🐭

Sometimes, while looking at the papers, I also work out the cause of the fault.

When the field worker arrives at the site, the first thing we do is the “first split”.

To decide whether the fault is on the equipment side or the cable side, we measure whether the light signal, the optical power, is coming through properly.

If no light is coming and the distance to the break is around 0 to 10 metres, then it is not the outside line, it is a problem inside the customer’s building.

At a site where the cable is run through the ceiling, the conversation sometimes becomes, “maybe it has been chewed by a mouse here”.

While the field worker is measuring on site, I look at the papers in front of me and narrow down the cause together with them, saying “please measure here next”.

This feels a little like being a detective, and it is quite fun.