BT Telephone Cable Jointing

D-side refers to the distribution side of the BT telephone exchange, and hence D-side cable jointing is telephone cable jointing with copper cables containing up to 100 pairs of copper wires. These cables are installed underground for new build, but many incumbent telephone operators, like BT in the UK, have a huge overhead D-side cable network that must be maintained. Indeed this distribution side of the network is arguable the most valuable, and so there is a need for cable jointers and poling gangs to replace the telegraph poles.

Since deregulation and privatisation of many traditional telephony companies, there has been a huge reduction in the numbers of people being trained to work on these copper telephone cables. Indeed much of the work on the BT network is now done by BT contractors, and without long term contracts to justify the investments they have not been able to train the hundreds of new telephone cable jointers and telegraph pole erectors required by the industry.