What is fiber jetting?

Fiber jetting (also called fiber blowing) is the process of installing fiber-optic cable through pre-installed duct or innerduct using high-pressure compressed air. The air carries the cable along the duct while a mechanical drive pushes it forward, allowing very long continuous installs with minimal cable tension.

Pulling fiber uses a winch and rope to drag the cable through the duct, which creates friction and tension that limits how far you can install in a single run. Jetting uses air to suspend the cable in the duct, dramatically reducing friction and allowing much longer runs (typically 1–3 km vs. a few hundred meters for pulling) with less risk of damaging the cable.

Jetting is preferred for long continuous routes, micro-cable installations, congested urban duct banks, and high-fiber-count cables where tension limits would otherwise force shorter runs and more splice points. Pulling is still common for short drops, congested handholes, or routes where jetting equipment access is impractical.

Modern jetting equipment can install 1,000–3,000 meters of micro-cable in a single shot, depending on duct condition, route geometry (number of bends), cable rigidity, and ambient temperature. Some specialized rigs can exceed 4,000 meters on straight, clean routes.

Standard closeout documentation includes pressure-and-distance run logs for each pull, equipment used and operator IDs, ambient conditions, and an OTDR baseline of the installed cable to verify it survived the install. Carrier-grade programs also require photo evidence of duct entry/exit points and as-built route mapping.

Yes. HexTel runs in-house jetting crews across our coverage states (TX, NM, AZ, CA, CO, IA, NE, MN, expanding to OR and WA), with the same closeout discipline used on our wireless and data center programs. See /services/fiber for the full scope.