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Recently I found this plastic thing on a pillar in the village:

enter image description here

Looks like it is not finally connected yet, just attached with tape to the pillar.

What is it's purpose?

4 cables go down to this thing:

enter image description here

LeopardSkinPillBoxHat
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Dims
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4 Answers4

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This is a fiber optic splicebox. It is a weatherproof enclosure where two (or more) ends of fiber optic cables are connected.

Yes - electricity poles also carry optical fiber for control of the network and often internet access.

filo
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15

It's a junction box for fiber optic cables.

Here you can buy a similar one.

enter image description here

Jeroen3
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10

We've given your photo to the forensics lab and they suspect that it is a fibre-optic data cable using the electrical power distribution poles as the cable route.

enter image description here

Photo 1. The enhanced image.

  1. The incoming cable.
  2. The cable clamp.
  3. The down-feed to the junction box where tap-off and through connections are made.
  4. The cable out to the next stage.
  5. The outgoing cables.

enter image description here

Photo 2. A fibre-optic junction box. Source.

The optical fibres can be run with power cables as they are insulating and there is no danger of fault currents going to ground.

Transistor
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3

That is a junction box which is weather proof, and is probably temporary and will be moved before it gets played with.

Solar Mike
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    Yeah - you'd think it'd be temporary, but in my part of the south that kind of 'temporary' sometimes hangs around for a year or 2 ... – brhans Sep 29 '18 at 19:48
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    Ahh, the definition of temporary - we were moved into a "new" office as a temporary measure - 10 years later we have been moved again... – Solar Mike Sep 29 '18 at 19:52
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    temporary ˈtɛmp(ə)rəri/ adjective Meanings: 1. permanent – user253751 Oct 01 '18 at 00:37