• Uses Fiber to Detect Activity Happening Near the Network and Identify Potential Problems Before They Cause Damage
• Helps Comcast Prevent Outages, Respond Faster, and Keep Customers Connected

Philadelphia, PA: Comcast today unveiled fiber sensing technology that uses fiber lines to detect and pinpoint activity happening around its network in real time. The technology analyzes vibrations traveling through fiber to identify activity such as construction near buried lines, giving Comcast an early warning of potential damage and helping teams respond faster.

“Customers count on our network every moment of every day, and our job is to make the incredible complexity behind that connection invisible to them,” said Elad Nafshi, Chief Network Officer, Comcast.

"Our fiber sensing technology is another way we’re leveraging network intelligence, at scale, to deliver a more reliable, responsive and resilient experience for customers,” added Nafshi. 

Detects Potential Issues Before They Cause Damage

Comcast’s fiber sensing technology can distinguish between different types of activity happening around the network – like a subway train passing an underground cable or construction equipment operating near a buried fiber line – and pinpoint where it is happening. For example, if a construction crew begins operating near a fiber route, the tech can alert Comcast teams and provide an early warning of a potential issue.

Expanding What Fiber Sensing Can Do

Comcast is also exploring how fiber sensing could combine with AI, data and other technologies to support new capabilities. In the future, that could include automatically dispatching a drone to provide a real-time view of network damage, vandalism, wildfires or accidents – helping teams understand what is happening and respond faster. The technology could also be used across interconnected and third-party fiber that supports the services Comcast delivers and depends on, helping improve reliability across the end-to-end network experience.

“The more visibility we have across the fiber that connects our network, the better we can anticipate problems, respond faster and minimize the impact to customers,” Nafshi said. “We have the engineering and innovation expertise to develop capabilities like fiber sensing and demonstrate their impact in the real world. We’re excited to deploy this technology across our network and explore how it can help improve reliability across the broader fiber infrastructure our services rely on.”

Building a Foundation of Network Intelligence and Reliability

Fiber sensing builds on Comcast's years-long effort to make its network more intelligent, automated and adaptive. Comcast has distributed software, telemetry and AI throughout its network, from its core infrastructure to neighborhood nodes, amplifiers and advanced gateways, giving the company greater visibility and control closer to customers.

That investment is already delivering measurable results. In Opensignal's May 2026 U.S. Fixed Broadband Experience Report, Xfinity ranked #1 nationally among the five largest U.S. Internet providers for Consistent Quality, Download Speed and Video Experience, and earned its second consecutive Most Reliable WiFi win in head-to-head comparisons within its footprint.