FTTH and backbone fibre
Fibre Route Survey for Jio FTTH and Backbone Projects
One survey team for both ends of the network: tight colony lanes for FTTH drops and long highway stretches for backbone fibre.
Quick AnswerA fibre route survey for Jio work locates existing cables, pipes and ducts on the planned path. The path may be a colony lane for FTTH or a highway shoulder for backbone fibre. We scan with GPR, mark services on the ground and deliver a depth drawing before digging starts. For related work, here are details of telecom operator projects.
What is a fibre route survey for Jio work, and who asks for it?
A fibre route survey for Jio work is a pre-construction scan of the ground along a planned fibre path. The contractor building that stretch orders it, because the crew must know where water, power, sewer and telecom lines run before trenching or drilling. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is the survey method. A cart rolls along the lane and its antenna sends radar pulses down. Every pipe or duct in the path bends the return signal into a curve.
Reliance Jio launched its commercial 4G service in September 2016 and has since built fibre for mobile sites, enterprise links and JioFiber home broadband. Even its JioAirFiber fixed wireless service, launched in 2023, depends on fibre reaching the sites that serve it. The digging therefore continues in two different settings: inside residential areas, and along roads between towns. The ground problems in each are different, and so is the survey.
FTTH or backbone: how does the survey change?
FTTH work is short, dense and full of surprises at close range; backbone work is long, faster per kilometre and mostly about road crossings and drains. The table compares the two as we run them.
| Point | FTTH in colonies | Backbone along roads |
|---|---|---|
| Typical length per order | A few kilometres of lanes | Tens to hundreds of kilometres |
| Main risk | House connections, water and gas service pipes | Crossings, culverts, other operators' ducts |
| Scan pattern | Close cross-lines, every pit and chamber | Cross-lines at intervals, denser at crossings |
| Progress per day | Slower, due to parked cars and access | Faster on open shoulders |
| Usual method after survey | Micro-trench, short HDD shots, open cut | HDD and machine trenching |
On both kinds of route, a cut to another network is the most common and costly mistake; you can read more on fibre cut penalty in India in our guide.
What do we look for inside a housing society or colony?
Mainly the small services that never appear on any drawing. In planned sectors the main lines are at least roughly known. The trouble is everything added afterwards by residents and other operators.
- Water service pipes from the main to each plot, often shallow and plastic.
- Piped gas service lines in cities that have city gas networks.
- Earlier broadband and cable TV ducts, some left in place after the operator moved on.
- Street-light cables and LT feeders running close to the kerb.
- Inspection chambers and soak pits hidden under paver blocks.
Inside gated societies the resident welfare association controls access. We work to the hours it allows and keep the crew's footprint small. GPR is silent and leaves no mark except the paint we put down.
How do we handle long backbone stretches?
By splitting the route into daily sections, scanning every crossing in full and the straight lengths at regular intervals. Highway shoulders are often wide and open, so a crew can cover several kilometres a day. Slowdowns come at bridges, culverts, town bypasses and wherever the road has been widened over old services.
Where the plan is to drill instead of trench, the scan feeds straight into pit and profile planning; see what we do: HDD route survey for how that works. In dense urban areas the ground is busier and permissions are tighter, and the Mezux guide: OFC Route Survey in Delhi NCR covers those conditions.
What is in the deliverable pack?
A drawing the site supervisor can use on the day, plus the evidence behind it. For each route section we hand over:
- a DWG and PDF drawing with every detected service, its type where known and its estimated depth;
- a KMZ file to open in Google Earth on a phone;
- an Excel list of crossings by chainage;
- the radargrams from data collection at each crossing, so a second engineer can check our reading.
The full method sits on our page of OFC route GPR survey details. If the operator needs the data in a GIS layer, our CAD and GIS utility mapping team supplies it. That turns the GPR survey into lasting underground utility mapping for the area.
What slows a colony survey, and how do we plan around it?
Parked cars, paver blocks and people. We plan the day around all three. A GPR cart needs a clear line across the lane, and a car parked over a pit location blocks it. We ask the society office to send a notice a day ahead, start early before the lanes fill, and come back to blocked spots in the afternoon.
Interlocking paver blocks are less of a problem than they look; the radar reads through them well. Fresh concrete with steel mesh is harder, because the mesh throws strong reflections that can hide a pipe below. A high frequency antenna helps separate the two. In those stretches we also tighten the line spacing and use the cable locator to pick out live metal services.
Residents ask questions, and that is fine. The crew explains what the scan is, that it is harmless and that nothing is dug on the day.
Which permissions sit with you, and which with us?
Road and Right of Way permission sits with the licence holder or its contractor; site safety and the scan itself sit with us. Telecom Right of Way applications are made through the Gati Shakti Sanchar portal. Inside private townships, the developer or maintenance agency gives access. We bring our own barricades, cones and reflective jackets, and we brief the crew on traffic at the start of each day.
How are FTTH and backbone surveys priced?
Both are priced per metre: ₹24 for a standard scan and ₹32 for an L-section, plus GST. Minimum order is ₹50,000 in Delhi NCR and ₹1,00,000 in other parts of India. Larger orders earn a discount on the whole order: 25% above 100 km, 40% above 500 km and 50% above 1,000 km.
- FTTH example: 6 km of lanes in a Noida sector, standard scan, comes to 6,000 × ₹24 = ₹1,44,000 plus GST.
- Backbone example: 150 km of highway route earns the 25% slab, so ₹24 becomes ₹18 per metre and the order totals ₹27,00,000 plus GST.
There is no minimum length, only the minimum order value.
Is Mezux Touch part of the Jio network?
No, it is a separate company. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has placed fibre route surveys with Mezux Touch directly, and the contractors and consultants who build its routes hire us too. Every job uses our own crews and 58 company-owned GPR systems. Company names on this page are used only to describe the type of work; all trademarks belong to their owners.
Share the route file and the target start date, or ask a survey engineer which scan pattern suits your section.
Frequently asked questions
Can you scan a whole sector in one visit?
Yes. For FTTH we plan the visit lane by lane and work around parking and access, so most sectors are covered in a few days.
Will GPR find a plastic water service pipe?
In most soil conditions, yes, if the pipe is not too small and the soil is not saturated. Wet ground has higher electrical conductivity, so small pipes there can be missed, and we flag those areas for care.
Do you mark the ground or only give a drawing?
Both. Paint marks over each buried object go down on the day, and the drawing follows.
How is the price worked out for many short lanes?
We add up the total metres and apply the per-metre rate, then the minimum order if the total is small. See GPR survey rates at a glance.
Can you work at night on main roads?
Yes, where the road permission allows only night work. Tell us when you book, so lighting is planned for the crew.
Get a written quote for FTTH or backbone routes
Read before you dig
Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026