Use Cases
Real-world scenarios where Theia Fiber monitoring provides critical visibility and rapid problem resolution across various industries and applications.
Use Case 1
Financial Services
Direct cross-connects between collocated infrastructure in a Tier 2 facility
Scenario
A critical application begins to underperform, with users reporting noticeable slowdowns and application-perceived latency. Investigation reveals measurable latency increases over a high-speed optical link, yet traditional monitoring systems report no errors or alarms.
The Cause
Subtle physical degradation from fiber stress, damaged connectors, or passive interference caused incremental optical loss. While not severe enough to trigger transceiver alarms, it significantly impacted latency-sensitive financial applications.
How Theia Assists
Theia's continuous passive monitoring detects early physical degradation before alarms trigger. Automatic OTDR measurements pinpoint issues with meter-level accuracy, generating timestamped GIS reports for rapid escalation and resolution.
Use Case 2
Regional ISP
Metro Fiber Network troubleshooting
Scenario
A major enterprise customer reports intermittent packet loss on a 10G DIA circuit. The issue is sporadic with no DWDM alarms, no dropped links, and power levels within specification. Support escalations pile up while field techs waste time swapping optics without results.
The Cause
A "dirty fiber" condition caused subtle degradation below traditional monitoring thresholds. While not severe enough for link failures, it disrupted real-time traffic by destabilizing signal quality, leading to packet loss and jitter.
How Theia Assists
Theia detects subtle irregularities in insertion loss and signal stability invisible to traditional tools. On-demand OTDR scans precisely localize degradation to specific splice points, providing exact fault coordinates and eliminating unnecessary truck rolls.
Use Case 3
NOC Support
Proving fiber integrity remotely to avoid unnecessary truck rolls
Scenario
A business customer reports frequent application timeouts and suspects fiber damage, demanding immediate investigation. Traditional response requires costly field dispatch with OTDR validation, often revealing no fault while risking wasted resources and SLA issues.
The Cause
The fiber infrastructure was intact. Issues stemmed from upstream equipment or application-layer instability, but without physical-layer insight, the customer assumed fiber was the culprit, typically leading to unnecessary field dispatches.
How Theia Assists
NOC immediately reviews current and historical passive scans, performing on-demand OTDR validation while the link remains live. Timestamped traces and GIS-verified integrity reports provide definitive proof, enabling confident customer communication without field dispatch.
Use Case 4
Utility
SLA assurance for fiber backhaul supporting SCADA and smart grid
Scenario
A regional utility operates multi-site fiber backbone connecting substations and control centers for SCADA and smart grid infrastructure. These mission-critical links require continuous visibility to ensure NERC reliability standards compliance, but traditional monitoring only covers Layers 2 and 3.
The Cause
Weather-induced stress, connector contamination, or aging splice reflections can undermine signal quality and create delays in command-and-control traffic. On leased spans, utilities lack fiber-level visibility for diagnostics or SLA validation.
How Theia Assists
Non-intrusive passive analysis establishes real-time health baselines. Automatic OTDR scans precisely localize degradations across owned and leased spans, providing auditable integrity logs for SLA conformance and regulatory documentation.
Use Case 5
Government/Defense
Fiber tap detection & security assurance for sensitive data
Scenario
Government agencies and defense contractors rely on leased dark fiber for classified data transport. While endpoints are secured, the fiber traverses third-party infrastructure with no visibility into potential physical-layer compromise between endpoints.
The Cause
Physical-layer access can exploit passive optical taps or splitters to siphon traffic silently. Fiber tapping introduces reflectance or insertion loss events that may not cause outages but indicate unauthorized connections, putting secure communications at risk.
How Theia Assists
Continuous passive monitoring establishes baseline optical fingerprints. Any deviation triggers targeted OTDR scans, identifying precise anomaly locations within meters. Timestamped traces enable security teams to investigate, alert authorities, and prove chain-of-custody integrity.
Fiber Challenges Solved
Whether you're in finance, telecommunications, utilities, or security-sensitive applications, Theia provides the visibility and control you need for mission-critical fiber infrastructure.