In installations where an optical fiber cable is exposed to contact with electric light or power conductors and the cable is terminated on the outside of the building, the non–current carrying metallic members shall be either grounded as specified in 770. 100, or interrupted. Fiber optic cable transmits data as light through glass or plastic strands, which means the fiber core itself carries no electrical current and requires no grounding. When designing with fiber, you can. This Applications Engineering Note (AE Note) discusses conventional bonding and grounding practices for conductive fiber optic cable and hardware installations within the scope of the National Electrical Code (NEC). This inconvenience can be eliminated by using a dielectric-armored cable. [. ] One of our readers asked us this question. "What needs to be grounded in a fiber optic network?" The standard answer of "everything" seemed illogical and was. Optical cable grounding is an important measure to protect optical cables and their connected equipment from lightning strikes, electrostatic discharge and electromagnetic interference. Proper grounding methods can significantly improve the stability and safety of fiber optic cable systems.
