Most fibre splicing contractors in Singapore will tell you the same three things: they are licensed, they are experienced and their splices pass. None of that tells you whether the joints on your route will still be good in five years, or whether you will be able to prove it if they are not. The way to tell contractors apart is to ask for evidence, not claims. These are the seven checks worth making before you award the job.
FIBER TECH SOLUTIONS
Have a splicing job to place?
Fiber Tech Solutions splices and terminates fibre up to 288-core, including in live exchanges, manholes and cable tunnels, and hands every job over with OTDR traces and loss figures as part of the price.
1. Is the licence real, and is it the right one?
Telecommunication cabling work in Singapore is regulated by IMDA, and contractors doing it hold a licence with a number you can check. Ask for the licence number and look it up on IMDA's published list yourself. A licence named in a tender document, or a logo on a website, is a claim; the register is the proof. Our own guide to what an IMDA licence actually means explains what it covers and what it does not.
If the job is part of a larger building project, check too whether the licence or a BCA workhead is the one your contract actually asks for. The two are often confused, and which one a cabling job needs depends on the work.
2. Which splicing method is being priced?
There are two ways to join fibre, and they are not interchangeable.
- Fusion splicing melts the two fibre ends together with an electric arc. Done properly it gives the lowest loss and almost no reflection, and it is the normal choice for any permanent joint.
- Mechanical splicing holds the two ends together in an alignment sleeve with index-matching gel. It needs less equipment, but it gives higher loss and more reflection, and it is generally used for temporary or emergency joints.
For high core counts, ask too whether the contractor is pricing mass fusion (ribbon splicing, many fibres per arc) or single-fibre fusion, and whether they own the splicer for it. A quotation that just says "splicing" has not told you which job it is pricing. What fusion splicing actually costs sets out the other things that change the number.
3. Can they show you a real test report?
This is the most useful single question. Ask for a redacted test report from a past job: the OTDR traces, the loss figure for each splice, and the light source and power meter results per link.
Look for three things in what comes back:
- A reading per splice, not just "all splices passed"
- A loss limit it was tested against, stated on the report. The common commercial standard, TIA-568, allows up to 0.3 dB per splice; a good fusion splice usually reads well under that
- Traces you can read, with the event table attached, not a screenshot with no scale
If you are not sure what a trace should show, reading an OTDR trace walks through the steps, spikes and dead zones, and OTDR vs light source and power meter explains which test a handover needs.
4. How do they work near live fibre?
Most splicing work in Singapore is not on a new, empty cable. It is an add-on to an existing route, a repair, or a joint in a closure that also carries fibres in service. The risk on those jobs is not a bad splice; it is cutting the wrong fibre and taking down traffic that has nothing to do with your project.
Ask the contractor to describe how they identify dark fibres before they open anything, how live fibres are protected in the closure while they work, and who they agree the working window with. A clear, specific answer is a good sign. "We are careful" is not an answer.
5. Can their crew legally and safely reach the joint?
The splice is often the easy part. Getting to it can mean a telecom manhole with standing water, a joint bay in a road reserve, a cable tunnel, a riser with no headroom, or a live exchange with its own access rules.
Each of those needs trained people and, often, permits: confined-space entry, work in a tunnel, night engineering hours on a rail line. Ask which of the crew hold the training, and whether the price assumes the access conditions your site actually has. A crew that arrives without the permit loses the day, and that day usually ends up on your bill.
6. Who actually does the work?
Many cabling firms quote splicing and then pass it to a specialist. That is not wrong in itself, but you should know about it, because it affects who you call when something goes wrong and whose test report you receive.
Ask directly: will your own staff splice and test, and are they certified to do it? FOA certification for splicing and termination is one recognised measure. If the work is subcontracted, ask who to, and make sure the test results come to you in your contractor's name.
For a wider view of when a large main contractor suits a fibre job and when a specialist does, see main contractor or specialist sub-contractor.
7. What will you hold at handover?
Agree this before the work starts, not after. A complete splicing handover usually includes:
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| OTDR trace per fibre | Shows every splice and connector along the link, and is the baseline for any future fault |
| Loss figure per splice and per link | Proves each joint met the agreed limit |
| Splice record per closure | Which fibre went to which, tray by tray, so the next person does not have to guess |
| Labelling of closures, trays and panels | Matches the record, so the record can be used on site |
| Test equipment and calibration details | Shows the readings were taken on a working instrument |
That pack is what lets a later fault be found in hours rather than days. If a fibre is ever cut, the original trace tells the repair crew exactly where the joints are and what each one read when it was new, which is most of what happens in the first four hours of a fibre break.
A short checklist to send with your enquiry
Copy these into the email you send each bidder, and compare the answers rather than the totals:
- Your IMDA licence number
- Fusion or mechanical, and single-fibre or mass fusion, for this job
- A redacted test report from a past job
- How you identify dark fibres and protect live ones
- Which crew members hold confined-space or tunnel training, if our site needs it
- Whether your own staff will splice and test
- What the handover pack will contain
A contractor who answers all seven in writing has thought about your job. One who sends a single number has not.
Where Fiber Tech sits
Fiber Tech Solutions Pte Ltd has spliced and terminated fibre in Singapore since 2007, up to 288-core, in live telecom exchanges, MDF rooms, manholes, joint bays, road and rail tunnels, and power substations. The company holds IMDA Wiring Contractor (Class) Licence No. IW105464, its team is FOA-certified for splicing and termination and trained for confined spaces and live tunnels, and it owns its OTDRs and power meters. Every fibre job is handed over with OTDR traces and loss figures as part of the price. To discuss a route or a closure list, get in touch.
— Written by the team at Fiber Tech Solutions Pte Ltd, IMDA-licensed wiring contractor and FOA-certified fibre specialists, Singapore.
Sources
- IMDA — licensing of telecommunication cabling contractors in Singapore
- Fiber Optic Association — certification for splicing and termination
- TIA-568 — commercial building telecommunications cabling standard, on splice loss and link testing