Fiber install cost & timeline estimator

It swings hard with method and market. Underground fiber commonly runs on the order of $10 to $25 per foot once you count boring or trenching, restoration, handholes, and splicing — higher in dense urban work with lots of utilities, lower on open rural runs. Aerial (lashing to existing pole) is usually cheaper per foot, often in the single digits, but make-ready and pole rates change the picture. Use the calculator with your own numbers rather than a single national figure.

For utility-size HDD, per-foot boring cost depends on diameter, soil, depth, and crossings. Rock, congested corridors, and long shots under highways or rail cost far more than an open bore through clean dirt. Plug your own bore rate into the calculator; that is the number your bids actually live on.

Aerial is usually cheaper to place per foot because you are not opening the ground, but it carries pole make-ready, attachment fees, and storm exposure. Underground costs more up front and is far more durable and out of sight. Most real builds are a mix, which is why this tool lets you split footage across bore, trench, and aerial.

Break it into what you actually price: footage by method (bore, trench, aerial) at your unit rates, then handholes and vaults by the each, splices and terminations by the each, and a flat line for mobilization and permits. Add them up and divide by total footage for a blended cost per foot. That is exactly what this calculator does.

Divide the footage by your crew's honest production rate. A bore crew might place a few hundred feet a day in tough ground and much more in easy dirt; restoration, mark-out waits, and permits eat into it. Track your real feet-per-day over a few weeks and the timeline stops being a guess.