Fiber to the Home (FTTH)

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Fiber Optic Construction Process

If fiber optic construction is underway or planned in your neighborhood, here is what you can expect during the process:

  • Door hangers (Construction Door Hanger Example) will be placed at your home at least seven days before construction begins, providing advance notice of the upcoming work.
  • Teams will mark existing underground utility lines such as gas, water, sewer, electric and communications lines. Visit Arizona 811 or call 8-1-1 for more information about locate markings.
  • Digging will not necessarily occur at the marked locations.
  • Construction crews will work in public rights-of-way and within utility easements. On private streets, additional HOA approvals may be required.
  • Please note that most private properties have existing easements on the private property that permit utilities to install their infrastructure.
  • Traffic movement and on-street parking restrictions may be needed.
  • Trenching, conduit installation, and restoration of pavement, sidewalks, and landscaping will all occur in phases.
  • City inspection staff will oversee all work occurring within the city’s jurisdiction, including within HOA neighborhoods where the city has not been pre-empted.
  • All restoration work is required to be completed to “like or better condition” in accordance with city engineering standards.
  • The city has implemented a construction hotline program so residents can reach a city liaison directly if they have concerns about contractor activity. Email the Construction Hotline or call 480-782-3310.
Vault Placement
Directional Drilling
Microtrenching

The City of Chandler has one of the most thorough telecommunications permitting programs in Arizona. Key elements include:

Utility Coordination Team

Chandler is one of only a handful of municipal agencies in Arizona with a dedicated Utility Coordination team responsible as a one stop shop for permitting, plan review, utility coordination, construction inspection, and project management oversight.

Plan Review

All provider plans are reviewed for minimum depth requirements, separation from existing utilities, and aesthetic concerns. The city’s plan review checklist is publicly available:

The full permitting and construction requirements manual is also available:

Staffing

Normally, two full-time coordinators handle utility coordination and plan review citywide. Due to the current high volume of fiber deployments, the city has supplemented staffing with five contract plan reviewers. This additional staffing is fully paid for by the utility providers—not Chandler taxpayers.

Resident Notification Policy

In 2020, Chandler implemented an industry-leading notification policy requiring providers to notify residents before construction begins in their area. The city recently updated these requirements to improve door hanger clarity.

All providers operating in Chandler must meet stringent requirements as a condition of their city license:

  • Providers must agree to be fully responsible for their staff, contractors, and any damages caused while working in rights-of-way or utility easements.
  • All work must follow Chandler’s engineering standards, including minimum depth requirements and separation from existing utilities.
  • Providers must participate in phased preconstruction meetings and daily job walks with city inspectors to identify and address issues before they escalate.
  • Providers are required to submit plans showing all existing underground utilities, so contractors are aware of lines that may not have been marked during Blue Staking.
  • Regular project coordination meetings are held with each of the providers—initially weekly, then bi-weekly, monthly, and eventually quarterly or annually—to ensure ongoing accountability and smooth project progression.
  • Pavement cuts in private streets require approval from the HOA, as the HOA is the owner of that pavement. City plan reviewers and inspectors are still required by Chandler City Code to permit and inspect these areas as if they were city owned streets.

Fiber construction involves several phases and may take weeks to months to complete in a neighborhood, depending on the size and scope of the build. The general process is:

Preconstruction

  • Provider submits plans for city review and approval.
  • A preconstruction meeting is held between the city, the provider, and their contractors.
  • Door hangers are placed at affected homes.
  • Blue Staking (utility locate markings) is completed before any digging begins.

Active Construction

  • City inspectors conduct daily job walks with provider representatives to verify plan accuracy and address any field conflicts.
  • Trenching, conduit installation, and fiber placement occur in phases.
  • Normal staffing includes three full-time civil inspectors citywide, currently city staff is supplemented with five contract inspectors—all additional staff is reimbursed by providers.

Restoration

  • All disturbed pavement, sidewalks, and landscaping must be restored to like or better condition.
  • City inspectors verify all restoration meets engineering standards before closing out permits.

Multiple private telecommunications providers have obtained licenses from the City of Chandler to construct fiber optic networks within the city. This is happening because there is significant market demand for high-speed internet, and state and federal law gives licensed providers the right to use public rights-of-way for this purpose.

Currently, 22 fiber providers hold licenses to operate in Chandler, and ten of those providers are actively offering Fiber to the Home (FTTH) services to residential customers. 

The city’s role is not to select which providers build, but to ensure that all construction is done safely, responsibly, and with as minimal disruption to residents and businesses as possible.

The City of Chandler does not select or endorse any specific fiber provider. Providers are licensed to operate in Chandler based on their meeting city requirements—not because the city chose them over others.

All licensed providers who meet the city’s technical and legal standards are permitted to build within the rights-of-way. Competition among multiple providers is encouraged, as it gives residents more choices and providers incentive to offer competitive pricing and service quality.

Open Access providers—such as Gigapower and Ubiquity—build the physical fiber network and allow other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to offer service over that infrastructure. For example, Gigapower currently has an agreement with AT&T to offer service over their Chandler network. The city does not restrict which ISPs these providers allow on their network.

To find out which providers offer service at your address, you will need to submit your address directly to each provider. Availability varies by neighborhood depending on where each provider has completed construction.

Below is a list of providers currently offering FTTH or high-speed wireless internet service in Chandler:

Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Providers

5G Wireless Internet Providers

These providers are licensed to offer high-speed internet over their 5G wireless networks in Chandler:

If you are a contractor interested in a utility permit to construct facilities in City of Chandler right-of-way, please visit Permitting and Construction. 

For additional questions, contact the City of Chandler’s Construction Hotline or call 480-782-3310. This FAQ will be updated as new providers receive licenses or begin construction.