Fidium installs temporary lines when the ground is frozen, preventing immediate burial, or when there is no conduit, or the existing conduit needs replacement. This temporary line ensures you have immediate Fidium service. Once conditions improve, we will contact you and return to bury the line.

Fidium will place a limited amount of conduit at no cost to the customer. In CA, IL, MN, PA, and TX 500’ of conduit is included. In ME, NH and VT 2,000’ of conduit is included.

Customers are responsible for providing a clear path for the conduit to follow. Please mark any private services such as a dog fence, irrigation or septic near the path the conduit will be buried. The scope of the work will be reviewed during a site walk before the works starts. When possible, we will provide immediate service with a temporary line placed above ground.

In the event that there is no clear path (wooded, wet or rocky areas), if boring under a private driveway or walkway exceeds 22’ or if the length of the conduit exceeds the limit (500’ in CA, IL, MN, PA and TX; 2,000’ in ME, NH and VT), it will be the responsibility of the customer to provide the conduit. The conduit should be a minimum of 2”, contain a pull-string, and not exceed 450’ between an access point (hand-hole, pedestal, etc.)

Fidium will schedule the work with an approved 3rd party vendor.

In accordance with DigSafe laws, the 3rd party vendor will pre-mark the area and obtain the necessary DigSafe authorization. If you have private services such as a dog fence, irrigation or septic, these services should be identified for the contractor by the homeowner.

Once the vendor is complete, we will let you know and a Fidium technician will be out to complete the connections. The temporary line will be removed and your service is cut over tp the new permanent line during the connection step.

Note: It is not required that you be home for either of these steps, but you may see markings for DigSafe purposes.

The total time to install the conduit and connect the lines may range from two to six weeks. Due to the nature of the work, the season typically runs after ground thaw (May 1st) through ground freeze (typically mid-December).

Here’s some of what Fidium won’t do:

• Lay temporary conduit across paved or hard surfaces that cannot be excavated by hand.
• Lay conduit across areas that have motor vehicle traffic or regularly used pedestrian traffic (driveways, walkways or entryways).
• Replace existing aerial services with conduit for aesthetic purposes.
• Directly bury fiber lines in a trench – all fiber lines must be placed in a conduit.
• Place conduit through wooded, wet or rocky areas.

State law requires certain utility types to participate in the Dig Safe system. There may be underground lines in the area of your excavation that belong to entities who are currently exempt from Dig Safe membership, like municipalities. It is your responsibility to contact non-member companies directly.

Member utility companies are responsible to mark only the facilities that they own or maintain. Private underground pipes and cables may not be owned or maintained by member utility companies, therefore they are unable to locate them. It is your responsibility to investigate if any privately owned utilities are in the area.

Common examples of private utilities include

• Sprinkler or irrigation systems
• Electric running to a detached garage or shop
• Lines connected to a propane tank or septic system
• Gas lines under for grills and outdoor fire pits
• Electric dog fence

Less common examples of private utilities:

• Water – Customer owns the water line from the meter, property line or stop box to the building.
• Sewer – Customer owns the sewer laterals from the tap at the sewer main into the structure, or from the property line into the home depending upon region.
• Gas – Customer owns all the gas pipe after the meter.
• Electric – Customer owns all the electric wires after the meter.
• Phone and Cable – Customer owns the service wire(s) from the backside of the protector or demarcation point.

In the event we couldn’t provide service today, we will schedule a vendor to come out and bury a fiber line. Once the vendor is complete, a Fidium representative will contact you to schedule the inside portion of the installation. Some causes for the delay might be a road bore, driveway crossing or sidewalk crossing.