Fiber Design Services for Rural Electric Cooperatives
Draftech designs your fiber network on your distribution plant to meet your construction standards and obligations to existing attachers. One in-house engineering team delivers the broadband design and the engineering exhibits behind your funding submission.
Fiber design services for rural electric cooperatives on their own poles
Draftech provides fiber design services for rural electric cooperatives building broadband on their own distribution poles. We deliver fiber route and attachment designs, phased fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network designs, and engineering documentation suited to RUS and ReConnect-type submissions. Engineering is 100% in-house, giving your broadband lead one accountable team for the network design and its fit with the electric plant.
A co-op may build fiber to serve members directly, carry its own utility communications, or support a broadband project financed through a RUS loan or ReConnect-type program. Each project starts with your distribution records and standards. Our work sits within Draftech's electric utility engineering practice, where fiber attachment decisions depend on the space and clearance available alongside existing facilities.
Designing the fiber overlay in isolation leaves the co-op to reconcile incompatible engineering later. A broadband drawing may assume an attachment position that the distribution design cannot support. A funding exhibit may retain a route that changed after pole review. Those differences can surface during construction, forcing the co-op to repeat engineering while the build is underway.
What your co-op receives
Our co-op broadband engineering services tie the fiber design to the poles it attaches to and carry that design into your funding exhibits. The deliverables are scoped to your service territory and build plan:
- Fiber attachment design on co-op-owned poles. Proposed attachments occupy the space assigned to your fiber by your construction standards. Loading and clearance checks inform the design, coordinated with the host distribution design.
- Design documentation for funding submissions. Engineering exhibits describe the proposed network using the same route and service-area boundaries as the fiber package. Their content and format fit the applicable RUS or ReConnect-type submission.
- Phased FTTH network design. The network layout follows your service territory and broadband build plan, with the intended service areas and connections between phases defined in the design.
- GIS and field-data inputs supporting the design. Existing pole and plant records establish the engineering basis. We identify the source information used and the gaps that need resolution before they can support a fiber route or attachment decision.
Together, these outputs give your team a construction-ready fiber design and the engineering documentation needed for its funding submission. We establish the required documents and delivery formats with your co-op at scoping so the package answers both needs.
Design the fiber attachment against the distribution plant
An ISP-side fiber layout can identify a route without accounting for the co-op's distribution construction standards or obligations to existing attachers. Pole ownership does not establish an acceptable attachment position. Draftech engineers the proposed fiber against the same pole records and standards used for the power-side design.
We check the proposed attachment for NESC clearance to supply conductors and between communication attachments, at the pole and at midspan under sag. We check pole strength with the added fiber load under the applicable loading conditions. Your construction standards establish where your fiber belongs on the pole. A generic attachment detail cannot settle a conflict with transformers, risers, secondary and service attachments or an existing communication attachment. Our electric cooperative fiber design guide provides background on designing fiber on your distribution plant.
Where the project includes power-side design, our overhead distribution design scope addresses that work. The fiber package uses the pole framing the distribution design specifies, so both designs check loading and clearance against the same pole.
Existing attachers also remain part of that design basis. Your fiber cannot take space or clearance that existing attachers already occupy. We check the proposed fiber position against those occupied spaces and required clearances. Administration of your broader pole-owner program belongs in joint use program engineering for pole owners, which can be scoped alongside the broadband engagement.
Put existing GIS and field records to use
Draftech starts with your distribution GIS and available field data, including existing pole and plant records. We review those inputs against the proposed broadband footprint to determine what the fiber design can use and where missing or conflicting information prevents an engineering decision.
For example, a record showing an available attachment position may conflict with field data showing another cable at that height. We identify the information needed to resolve it before using the position in the attachment plan.
The underlying distribution data model is addressed through electric utility GIS mapping. When the design needs additional pole inventory inputs, pole data collection and OSP fielding supplies that field scope.
Fit the FTTH design to your service territory
Your broadband plan establishes which members the network will serve and how your service territory develops through successive phases. Draftech defines feeder and distribution routing for those serving areas, with hub or cabinet placement shown in the design. We check the proposed paths against the pole attachment conditions.
Phasing needs a network-wide basis. We size feeder fiber counts so later phases can tie in without re-engineering the earlier build. An initial service area may depend on a route through another part of your territory; the design identifies that dependency so your team can evaluate the phase before committing to its layout. Our guide to fiber network design for cooperatives and rural ISPs covers the technical background.
If your team already has a preliminary broadband layout, we review it against the distribution records and attachment requirements before advancing the detailed design. A route change prompted by a pole constraint must also reach the affected serving-area design.
Keep RUS and ReConnect exhibits tied to the designed network
Funding documentation can diverge from the engineering when an early network concept remains in the submission while detailed design changes the route. The co-op then has documents describing different projects. Draftech develops the engineering exhibits from the fiber design so the proposed network remains consistent across the package.
We establish which design documents your co-op needs for its RUS/USDA or ReConnect-type submission and organize the engineering information accordingly. The route and intended service area shown in those exhibits follow the design basis used by the broadband team. If attachment engineering moves the route, we revise the route maps and service-area exhibits to match before the package is issued.
Draftech also offers grant applications and their supporting engineering through federal grant engineering.
Define the engagement around your broadband project
Bring your broadband service-area plan, proposed phases, distribution GIS, available field records and current construction standards. Include existing broadband drawings and any engineering-document requirements for the intended funding submission. We use those materials to define the design scope and the inputs required from your co-op.
Fiber Design Services for Rural Electric Cooperatives FAQ
Can our co-op buy the fiber design without the funding exhibits?
Yes, your fiber network and attachment design can be scoped alone. Engineering exhibits for a RUS or ReConnect-type submission are added when your co-op needs them. All engineering is performed in-house.
Can you work with our existing distribution engineering team?
Yes. We use your standards and agreed pole records as the basis for the fiber design. Your distribution team provides the pole framing information and makes the pole-owner calls, such as replacing or reframing a pole, with our engineers.
What happens when part of our fiber route is on another owner's poles?
The portion on your co-op's own poles stays in this fiber design engagement. Attachment applications to the other owner's poles are scoped as a separate pole attachment engineering deliverable. We identify that boundary with your team at scoping.
Is a grant application included with the fiber design?
No. Grant application services are available as a separate deliverable. We define both scopes at intake when your co-op needs them together.
Scope your co-op's fiber design
Draftech works as the FTTH network design partner for co-ops: with your proposed footprint and distribution records, we scope the fiber design and attachment engineering. Contact our engineering team to plan the design.