Underground cable-tv + telephone cables - pipes and cable recommedations

[skumar]

Our residential colony has 7 to 8 independent houses per row, total of 5 rows. This is a 4 year old colony and the builder did not complete the underground pipeline and cabling for cable-tv and telephones as promised. All the cables are hung across houses on the street-light poles :sad:.

We are considering laying a 1.5" to 2" pipeline underground for each row along either side of the road and provide a T junction at main gate of each house where the inlets are provided (thank god). The trench will be dug 3*3 or 4*4" wide/deep and we might re-pave the roads pretty soon with 2" concrete as the roads are also in pretty bad condition.

So far we got a quote for 1.5" PVC pipe at 12 to 15 rs/ft. My questions are:

a) Is PVC the right material for this (the ones used for channeling rain water from terraces or connected to wash basin outlets)?
b) If any other material is better, what are they and how much do they cost?

c) We are aslo planning to have a 2pair telephone cable wired for each house while laying the pipes, any recommendations on brand? cost? Durability is the priority here.

d) We may provide 5 or 3 junction boxes where these lines will be terminated for service providers to connect to their lines? Any thoughts on this? Do we have any neat/efficient/clutter-free stuff available to do this?

e) The cable-tv wiring will be done by the cable-tv guy (most likely in a series mode), any things to look out for?

Each pipeline will have a single cable-tv cable plus 7 to 8 2pair telephone cables.

Thanks for your help.

 

[venkatcr]

a) Is PVC the right material for this (the ones used for channeling rain water from terraces or connected to wash basin outlets)?
b) If any other material is better, what are they and how much do they cost?

PVC is about the only solution available today. Cost will depend upon the thickness of the pipe and diameter.

What I would do, if possible, is to lay a small concrete pathway at the same depth as you are planning and just place the PVC pipes inside, This will give some protection to both the pipes and the cables they are carrying from the elements. The other advantage is that of you have some small man holes at various points, the cables can be easily removed, repaired, or replaced.

c) We are also planning to have a 2 pair telephone cable wired for each house while laying the pipes, any recommendations on brand? cost? Durability is the priority here.

You get standard telephone cables from companies such as Finolex (Telephone and Switchboard Cables) These are available from 1-pair to as much as 100 pairs in a single jacket. Count the number of houses, add 100% for redundancy, and draw as many pairs in single cable. As many pairs as need can be connected to a junction box in each house. It is also recommended that telephone cables be housed in a separate PVC pipe to avoid noise and crosstalk.

If you have enough connections a company such as Airtel or BSNL may do this free for you.

d) We may provide 5 or 3 junction boxes where these lines will be terminated for service providers to connect to their lines? Any thoughts on this? Do we have any neat/efficient/clutter-free stuff available to do this?

Telephone junction box will be separate. At least with BSNL, the junction boxes come in a minimum number of pairs. In my house, for example, BSNL has placed a 15 pair junction box.

Each pipeline will have a single cable-tv cable plus 7 to 8 2pair telephone cables.

As I said before it will be advisable to lay a separate PVC pipe for the telephone cable.

Cheers

 

[skumar]

Venkat,

Many thanks for taking the time. Will discuss the above with the society members, have a week or two to finalize.