ISP and broadband FTTH
FTTH Route Survey for ISPs (ACT, Hathway, Excitel)
Taking fibre off the poles means digging in lanes full of water connections. A lane-by-lane scan keeps the rollout clean.
Quick AnswerAn FTTH route survey scans the lanes, footpaths and splitter locations where an ISP plans to lay fibre underground. It finds water and gas service pipes, power cables and older ducts before micro-trenching or HDD starts, which cuts repair bills and complaints from residents. Priced per metre from ₹24; here is more on telecom operator projects beyond broadband.
What is an FTTH route survey for an ISP?
An FTTH route survey is a ground scan of every lane and footpath where a broadband operator will lay feeder and distribution fibre. It marks existing buried services and their depth, and checks the spots chosen for splitters and fibre access terminals. The civil crew can then trench or drill without hitting household connections. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) makes this possible: radar pulses go down through the paving, and the echoes help image the subsurface of the lane in real time.
Home broadband in India is sold by large national operators and by many regional and local internet service providers. ACT Fibernet, the brand of Bengaluru-based Atria Convergence Technologies, is one well-known name. Hathway Cable & Datacom of Mumbai, in which Reliance Industries took a controlling stake in 2019, is another, as is Delhi-headquartered Excitel. All three hold ISP authorisation under the Department of Telecommunications' unified licence. They build FTTH networks on GPON technology with passive splitters in the field.
Why are more ISPs moving fibre underground?
Because overhead fibre on poles is fragile, untidy and increasingly unwelcome. Many ISP networks began as cables strung along electricity poles and building walls. That was fast and cheap, but storms, pole replacement and road works keep breaking it. Many cities and power utilities are now pressing operators to clear overhead cables, and residents' associations are less tolerant of tangled wires.
Going underground solves those problems and creates new ones. Colony lanes are crowded with services that were laid plot by plot over decades and never mapped. A micro-trench only 30–50 cm deep can hit water pipes and gas service lines, which are often the shallowest services in the lane.
What does a lane-by-lane scan look like?
A GPR cart runs across the lane at short intervals and along the planned trench line, with a cable locator sweeping for live power cables. Each find is painted on the surface and logged against the lane name and house numbers, which is how the civil crew will look for it.
- House water connections from the main to each plot.
- Piped gas service lines in cities with city gas networks.
- LT power cables and street-light cables close to the kerb.
- Earlier broadband and cable TV ducts, live or abandoned.
- Sewer laterals and inspection chambers under paver blocks.
Not every find is equally certain, and the lane sheet says so. We grade each one: a clear, continuous target traced along several lines; a probable service seen on fewer lines; and a possible object that needs care when digging. For a civil supervisor this is the most useful part of the sheet. It shows where to dig by hand for the last few centimetres and where a machine is safe. Grading also stops a sheet from looking more certain than the soil conditions allow.
The scan method is the same as for any fibre route; see what we do: OFC route GPR survey for detail on spacing and output.
FTTH route survey at a glance
| Network element | What we check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Feeder route | Main road crossings, trunk mains, other ducts | Sets HDD shots and depth |
| Distribution lanes | House connections, LT cables, chambers | Shallow micro-trench risk |
| Splitter / FAT points | Clear ground for the chamber or pole base | Avoids rework after install |
| Building entries | Frontage services, sumps, tanks | Last-metre clashes |
| Output | Lane sheets, DWG/PDF, KMZ, find list by lane and house number | |
If a lane crew does cut another operator's fibre, the costs can be steep; our article is the step-by-step guide to how those claims are handled.
Micro-trench or HDD: which suits your colony?
Micro-trenching suits long, straight lanes with few shallow services; short HDD shots suit crossings and crowded frontages. The scan makes the choice obvious in most lanes. A lane with water connections every 10 m on one side and a clear strip on the other can be micro-trenched along the clear side. A main road crossing or a market frontage with services stacked at shallow depth is better drilled.
When drilling is chosen, the scan feeds the bore plan directly; our page on HDD route survey sets out how pit positions and bore depth are fixed. For the permission side, especially in Delhi, Gurugram and Noida, see OFC route survey in Delhi NCR explained.
How do we phase a city rollout?
Sector by sector, ahead of the civil crews, so each lane is surveyed a few days before it is dug. Scanning too early leaves time for new house connections to appear; scanning too late holds up the trenching team. A short lead of a few days works best.
- You share the network design or a list of sectors in rollout order.
- We scan the feeder routes first, since their crossings set the network's backbone.
- Distribution lanes follow sector by sector, with splitter and terminal points checked as we go.
- Lane sheets are sent daily to your civil supervisors.
- Any lane that needs a revisit, for parked cars or locked gates, is listed and closed out.
Inside gated colonies, the residents' association or maintenance office controls access, and a notice from them a day ahead makes the work much smoother. Where a colony mixes old and new phases, each phase is treated as its own block. The older phase holds far more undocumented pipework.
What does an FTTH survey cost?
Standard scanning costs ₹24 per metre and L-section ₹32 per metre, with GST extra. The minimum order is ₹50,000 within Delhi NCR and ₹1,00,000 outside it. Large orders earn whole-order discounts: 25% above 100 km, 40% above 500 km and 50% above 1,000 km.
- A Gurugram sector with 4.2 km of lanes: 4,200 × ₹24 = ₹1,00,800 plus GST.
- A 2.5 km colony in Lucknow: ₹60,000 at the rate, so the ₹1,00,000 minimum outside NCR applies.
- A 110 km city rollout: the 25% slab brings the rate to ₹18, a total of ₹19,80,000 plus GST.
Who do we survey for in broadband colonies?
For internet service providers and their civil contractors. ACT Fibernet, Hathway and Excitel are among the providers that have sent work orders to Mezux Touch directly. Company names on this page are used only to describe the type of work; all trademarks belong to their owners. We work with ISPs' civil contractors and network teams, using our own crews, and the lane sheets add up to underground utility mapping of each colony. To agree a pilot sector, book a site visit.
Frequently asked questions
Will a micro-trench hit water pipes without a survey?
Often, yes. House water connections are frequently shallower than a micro-trench. A GPR survey first shows which side of the lane is clear.
Can you scan at night to avoid parked cars?
Lanes are often clearer early in the morning, which is when we prefer to start. Night work is possible where the colony allows it.
Do you check splitter chamber locations?
Yes. Each proposed splitter or terminal point is scanned for any buried object before the chamber is dug.
How is a city rollout priced?
On the total metres across all sectors in the order, with slab discounts for the whole order. See details of GPR survey rates.
Can the find list use house numbers?
Yes. Civil crews find services by lane and house number, so our data collection logs them that way.
Get a written quote for your FTTH rollout
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Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026