GB2584556A

GB2584556A - Fibre management enclosure

Info

Publication number: GB2584556A
Application number: GB2008367.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Jason; Jones Gareth
Original assignee: HellermannTyton Data Ltd
Current assignee: HellermannTyton Data Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-03
Filing date: 2020-06-03
Publication date: 2020-12-09
Also published as: GB202008367D0; WO2020245566A1; GB201907840D0

Abstract

The fiber drop terminal has a housing formed of two parts (1a, 1b, figure 1b) which are engageable along mating surfaces to form an internal cavity. Seal means associated with the mating surfaces are provided for sealing the internal cavity. Apertures (6, figure 2) are provided on an exterior surface of the housing and they include at least one aperture which, in use, receives a fiber connector that is connected to a single optical fiber cable. Gland 4 has a compression seal which is compresses around cable 5 which enters and exits through the gland. Cable 5 has multiple fibres and some of them exit the drop terminal for routing to another drop terminal. A fiber management tray (39, figure 6c) is provided in the terminal. The apertures are covered by break-out parts which can be removed to provide a through opening.

Description

Fibre Management Enclosure The present invention relates to fibre management enclosures for use in fibre optic communications networks.

Fibre optic cabling is increasingly replacing conventional copper cabling in data communication networks, such as for telephone and broadband services, as fibre enables much higher transfer speeds and higher bandwidth, allowing users to take advantage of voice over IP communications, online gaming, media streaming and the like.

A fibre optic communications network uses optical fibres deployed from a service provider's data centre to one or more user locations such as business premises or domestic dwellings, with the fibres from the data centre being bundled together into cables which contain multiple fibres (cabled optical fibres). These cabled optical fibres are then routed through management enclosures where individual or groups of fibres are separated from the bundle to feed individual locations whilst allowing the remainder of the bundle to be routed on to another management enclosure. Furthermore, variable fibre operations may be carried out on individual fibres between the data centre and the end use location, such as splicing fibres together, splitting a single fibre into multiple fibres to enable the single fibre to be used to deliver services to multiple locations and the like.

It is important that all fibre operations carried out on the fibres are completed properly and to a high standard as poor connections and the like negatively impact on the maximum data transfer speed which can be handled by the fibre and subsequently the service speed which is experienced by the end user. It is furthermore important that the fibre management operations are completed without becoming contaminated, as a spec of dirt or the like within a fibre connection will impact on the signal transfer through the connection, at the least diminishing the transfer rate and possibly even blocking the transmission altogether. Additionally, ingress of moisture and dirt into a management enclosure, even after the management operations have been properly completed, can, over time, cause a degradation of the transmission capability of the fibre.

One type of fibre management enclosure is a fibre-drop terminal, which may be used to route signals from an incoming cabled optical fibre to one more end user premises. Fibre drop terminals are typically located in either elevated or subterranean locations, such as at the top of telegraph poles or in junction boxes located below ground level so as to protect them from interference. A cabled optical fibre is then feed from a subterranean fibre management enclosure to the drop terminal from which individual feeds to individual user premises are taken, so that each drop terminal has an associated subterranean management enclosure which feeds to it.

WO 2006/050505 discloses a fibre drop terminal known in the art. The terminal comprises a housing having an internal cavity, the housing being formed of two parts which connect together with a seal there between so as to form a water tight enclosure. An input connector is provided on one end of the housing to which is connectable a cabled optical fibre for connecting multiple fibres to the drop terminal. Multiple output connectors are then provided on at least one outer surface of the housing to each of which is connectable a fibre connector for feeding an individual fibre to an end user location. Each of the input and output connectors has a seal associated with it so as to ensure a water tight connection is made with a mating connector. Within the housing, each of the output connectors is pre-connected to the multi fibre input connector. In this way, the fibre connections within the drop terminal may be carried out in a factory environment, away from the installation location, and during installation, the installer merely needs to connect the input connector and output connectors to the housing, thereby minimising the risk of contamination of the fibre network during installation.

Whilst this prior art drop terminal provides a rugged solution which helps prevent the ingress of moisture and dirt into the internal cavity, and reduces the risk of contamination during installation, it still requires a subterranean fibre management enclosure to be associated with each drop terminal for providing the input cabled optical fibre to the drop terminal. This means that the installer may still need to carry out fibre management connections on site in order to install an additional management enclosure to feed a new drop terminal required to feed new customers.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a fibre drop terminal comprising a housing formed of two parts which are engageable along mating surfaces to formed an internal cavity, seal means associated with the mating surfaces for sealing the internal cavity, a plurality of rugged outdoor receptacles provided on an exterior surface of the housing, said plurality of rugged receptacles including at least one receptacle which receives a fibre connector that is connected to a single optical fibre cable, a multi-fibre input receptacle that receives an input multi-fibre connector or cable, and a multi-fibre output receptacle that receives an output multi-fibre connector or cable, wherein each of the at least one single fibre cable receptacles and the multifibre output receptacle are all connectable to the multi-fibre input receptacle within the cavity such that some of the fibres which, in use, enter the housing through the input receptacle pass through the drop terminal directly to the multi-fibre output receptacle for routing to another drop terminal.

A fibre drop terminal in accordance with the invention has the advantage that in addition to fibres entering via the input receptacle being internally connectable to the receptacles for feeding to individually customers so as to enable new connections to be made without having to access the internal cavity of the receptacle, some of the fibres are internally routable to the output receptacle, enabling those fibres to be connected to a neighbouring drop terminal, by connecting between the output receptacle of the first drop terminal and the input receptacle of the next. In this way, a new drop terminal can be added to a network without having to install a new subterranean management enclosure or access an existing such enclosure.

A single optical fibre cable referenced above and hereinafter is referring to a single cable which may contain one or more individual optical fibres such that the receptacles may provide connection to a single fibre for connection to a single swelling or to multiple fibres for routing to a multiple occupancy building such as an apartment block.

The connections between the input receptacle and the at least one single fibre cable receptacles and the multi-fibre output receptacle may be a direct connection, so that a fibre which comes in connects directly to one of the other receptacles, or may be an indirect connection where an incoming fibre passes through a passive optical device such as a splitter. The important requirement is that an optical connection exists between the receptacles.

At least one fibre management tray with positive fibre management for protected fibre elements may be included within the cavity for management the routing of the fibres within the cavity and eliminate macro bends which could damage the fibres or significantly increase their losses, especially at the longer wavelengths used in modern communications systems. In particular the positive fibre management may include at least one tray which includes fixing features for mounting optical splitters and/or fibre channels which ensure minimum bend radii are not exceeded and/or which enable fibre storage so that output legs of splitters or pigtails are all presented with the same length. The or each fibre management tray may be pivotally mounted in the cavity to facilitate access to the or each tray whilst ensuring compactness.

At least one tray may also be included to accommodate a splitter, and the cavity may include mounting means for releasably mounting one or more trays so that additional trays may be added to split off more fibres or the like as necessary.

The receptacles may be connectors which extend through to the outside of the housing so as to enable mating connectors to be connected without having to access the internal cavity of the drop terminal. In particular, the receptacles may be inline single or multi-fibre couplers which provide a fibre connector on each end such that the connector on one end is accessible from outside the housing and the connector on the other end is accessible from the cavity within the housing. The connector on each end will include an alignment sleeve in a manner known in the art to ensure proper alignment and close engagement of mating fibres. Incoming and outgoing fibres may then easily be connected by engagement with the external ends of the couplers, and internal interconnections may be made by internal interconnections within the cavity.

In a preferable development, the coupler is sealed to the housing both at the cavity side and at the outside of the housing. In this way, not only is the water tight integrity of the cavity protected against ingress of moisture between the coupler and the housing but also the ingress of moisture through the coupler in the event that a protective cap is omitted from the outer end of a coupler which does not have a fibre connected to it.

Alternatively, the receptacles may be openings in the housing through which individual fibres or fibre bundles may be routed into the cavity for interconnection. Sealing means is then associated with each opening for sealing around the fibre or fibre bundle passing through the opening to ensure the water tight integrity of the cavity is maintained. Suitable such sealing means are well known in the art.

The multi-fibre input and output receptacles may be separated from each other. However, in one embodiment, a cabled optical fibre may simply loop through the drop terminal, with the required number of fibres being picked up from the bundle within the cavity and connected to the single fibre receptacles. In that case, the multi-fibre input and output receptacles may be formed as a loop port which allow the cabled optical fibre to pass into the cavity and then loop back out. Separate seal means may then be associated with the incoming and outgoing cable, the separate seal means cooperating with each of as well as with their associated cable to ensure that the integrity of the sealed cavity is maintained.

The multi-fibre input and output receptacles may be separate ports or connectors which are in particular separated from each other on the housing. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the multi-fibre input and output receptacles are located on opposing ends of the housing, so that when mounted vertically, one receptacle is vertically above the other. In that configuration, a single fibre bundle could be routed vertically through multiple drop terminals arranged vertically above each other, with individual fibres or groups of fibres being split out from the bundle in the cavity of each drop terminal.

The present invention further provides a fibre distribution configuration comprising a plurality of fibre drop terminals according to the invention arranged vertically above each other in a vertical column, each drop terminal having a fibre bundle inlet receptacle and a fibre bundle outlet receptacle arranged vertically one above the other, and a cabled optical fibre extending vertically through each drop terminal in a series configuration, at least one fibre from the cabled optical fibre being split from the bundle within each drop terminal and connected to a single fibre cable outlet receptacle provided in the housing of the drop terminal.

The present invention still further provides a fibre drop terminal comprising a housing formed of two parts which are engageable along mating surfaces to formed an internal cavity, seal means associated with the mating surfaces for sealing the internal cavity, a plurality of receptacles provided in the housing which extend to an exterior surface of the housing, said plurality of rugged receptacles including at least one receptacle which receives a fibre connector that is connected to a single optical fibre cable, a multi-fibre input receptacle that receives an input multi-fibre connector, wherein each of the at least one single fibre cable receptacles are connectable to the multi-fibre input receptacle within the cavity, and further including at least one fibre management tray housed within the cavity with positive fibre management for managing fibres within the cavity.

The at least one management tray preferably manages the routing of the fibres within and eliminates macro bends which could damage the fibres. In particular the positive fibre management may include at least one tray which includes fibre channels which ensure minimum bend radii are not exceeded and/or which enable fibre storage so that output legs of splitters or pigtails are all presented with the same length.

The at least one tray may preferably also accommodate a splitter, and the cavity may include mounting means for releasably mounting one or more trays so that additional trays may be added to split off more fibres or the like as necessary.

For any of the drop terminals according to the invention, the housing preferably includes a plurality of moulded port recesses for forming said receptacles, each moulded port recess forming a break-out part which can be removed to form a through opening in the housing for configuring as one of said receptacles.

The present invention further provides a housing for a fibre drop terminal comprising two housing parts which are engageable together along mating surfaces to form an internal cavity, seal means associated with the mating surfaces for sealing the internal cavity, and a plurality of moulded port recesses for forming said receptacles, each moulded port recess forming a break-out part which can be removed to form a through opening in the housing for configuring as a receptacle in the drop terminal.

In order that the invention may be well understood, there will now be described an embodiment thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures la -le are various views of a fibre drop terminal according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the drop terminal of Figure 1 in a partially assembled form; Figure 3 is a further perspective view of the drop terminal of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a bottom view of one housing part which forms part of the drop terminal of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the drop terminal of Figure 1 in a further partially assembled configuration; Figures 6a -6e are various views of a fibre drop terminal according to another embodiment of the invention which includes a fibre management tray; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a fibre management tray which forms part of the drop terminal of Figures 6a -6e; Figure 8 is a schematic view of a fibre distribution network according to the prior art; and Figure 9 is a schematic view of a fibre distribution network utilising a drop terminal according to the invention.

Referring first to Figures la -le, there is shown a fibre drop terminal according to an embodiment of the invention. The terminal comprises a housing 1 which is formed of first and second housing parts la, lb which connect together to form a hollow enclosure having an interior cavity 2. The two housing parts 1 a, lb releasably connect together in any well know fashion, such as by means of integrated clips, screws or the like, so that the housing can be opened up to enable access to the cavity 2. A seal such as an o-ring seal is provided between the two housing parts la, lb which cooperates with the mating surfaces of the two housing parts la, 1 b to effect a weather tight seal between them.

An opening 3 is formed in one end of the first housing part 1a in which is mounted a gland 4 by means of which a cabled optical fibre 5 containing multiple fibres can be routed into the cavity 2 of the housing 1, looped around and routed back out of the housing. The gland 4 includes a compression seal which is compressed around the looped cable 5 when the gland 4 is tightened so as to secure the cable 5 in place and also to effect a weather tight seal between the cable 5 and the gland 4 and hence prevent ingress of water into the cavity 2 past the cable 5. In particular, the seal is configured to engage with two cables -the entry cable and the exiting loop of the same cable.

The first housing part 1a further includes a plurality of apertures 6 in its top face which penetrate through to the cavity 2 when the housing is assembled. Each aperture 6 is tilted with respect to a top plane 7 of the first housing part la so that the apertures 6 are inclined towards the end of the housing 1 in which the opening 3 is formed, the top face of the first housing part la being contoured so as to project outwardly from the top plane 7 around each aperture 6 so as to form an inclined tube around each aperture 6 which extends to the top plane 7. In this way, when the terminal is installed with the opening 3 lowermost any water to which the housing is exposed will tend to run down the housing, over the contoured surface and away from the apertures 6 rather than collecting therein.

In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 1 has eight apertures arrange in 2 columns of 4, but it will be understood that other configurations are possible. Furthermore, although in the figures all eight apertures are shown open, the first housing part 1 may be moulded with the apertures 6 covered by break-out pieces, which seal their associated aperture until the aperture is required to be used, when the break-out piece can be removed to open the aperture.

As shown in Figure 3, a fibre connector 8 is engageable in each aperture. A seal (not shown), such as an 0-ring is associated with each connector 8 so as to provide a weather-tight seal between each aperture 6 and its connector 8. In the illustrated embodiment, each connector 8 is an in-line type connector having a socket on each end into which a fibre-optic plug is engageable. Such connectors are well known in the art and will not be described in detail here. Each connector 8 is then configured so that its first end extends into the cavity 2 for receiving a fibre plug routed within the cavity 2, and its second end is accessible from the exterior of the housing for receiving a fibre plug on a single fibre cable which it is desired should be connected to the fibre connected to the first end. A cap (not shown) will typically be provided on the second end of each connector 8 when a plug is not engaged therein to protect against dirt and moisture ingress. In one embodiment of the invention, each connector 8 further includes seal means which seals the inside of the plug from the outside so that, even if a cap is left off of the second outer end of the connector, moisture cannot enter the cavity 2 by passing through the connector 8.

Within the cavity 2, the looped incoming cabled optical fibre 5 has individual fibres separated out from the bundle and the ends are terminated with fibre connectors. These are then plugged into the first ends of the adapters 8 in the apertures 6 so that when a fibre is connected to the second end of an adapter 8, a data connection is completed.

In an alternative embodiment not shown, instead of the incoming cabled optical fibre being looped into and out of the cavity 2, incoming and outgoing multi-fibre in-line connectors may be provided in the end of the housing 1. The incoming and outgoing multi-fibre cables may then be provided with connectors which engage with the second ends of the connectors, and distribution cables may then be used within the cavity to create the required internal connections. This has the advantage that all the necessary fibre terminations may be done off-site at a properly equipped location where it is easy to manage work standards, and then tested before being sent to site for installation.

Figures 6a to 6e show an alternative embodiment of a fibre drop terminal of the invention in which like features are identified by like reference numerals increased by 30. More particularly, the terminal comprises a housing 31 formed of two housing halves 31a, 31b which connect together to form a hollow enclosure having an interior cavity 32. As with the first embodiment, the two housing parts 31a, 31b releasably connect together in any well know fashion with a seal provided between them.

Opening 33 is formed in one end of the first housing part 31a in which is mounted a gland 34 by means of which a fibre cable (not shown) containing multiple fibres can be routed into the cavity 32 of the housing 31, looped around and routed back out of the housing 31 in a similar manner to the first embodiment above. The gland 34 includes a compression seal which is compressed around the looped cable when the gland 34 is tightened so as to secure the cable in place and also to effect a weather tight seal between the cable and the gland 34 to prevent ingress of water into the cavity 32.

In common with the first embodiment, the first housing part 31a further includes a plurality of apertures 36 in its top face which penetrate through to the cavity 32 when the housing is assembled, each aperture 36 having its axis inclined with respect to a top plane 37 of the first housing part 312 so that the apertures 36 are inclined towards the end of the housing 31 in which the opening 33 is formed.

In difference to the embodiment of Figure la -le, the housing 31 has twelve apertures arrange in three columns of four, some or all of which may be moulded with a breakout cover piece which is removed to enable a connector 38 to be installed.

As can also be seen in Figures 6c to 6e, which show the upper housing part 31a from below with the lower housing part 31b removed, the housing 31 has a fibre management tray 39 of a type generally known in the art mounted therein for facilitating fibre management operations such as splitting, splicing and general fibre storage within the housing 31. More particularly, the tray 39 is pivotally mounted to the upper housing part 31 by means of a clip 40 formed on the tray 39 (as best seen in Figure 7) which engages a hinge bar 41 that extends transversely across the upper housing half 31a so that the tray 39 can be pivoted between a closed position, shown in Figure 6d, in which the tray lies flat across the bottom of the upper housing part 31a so as to allow the lower housing part 31b to be engaged in place, and an open position, shown in Figures 6c and 6e, in which the tray 39 is pivoted upwards, out of the cavity to as to allow access to the fibre management features 42 formed on the underside thereon. It will, of course, be understood that the tray 39 may alternatively be designed to be hingedly mounted for pivoting parallel to a longitudinal side of the housing 31 instead if preferred, or, indeed, been mounted for sliding or other movement within the cavity 32.

In all other respects, the terminal of figures 6 is the same as that of the embodiment of Figures 1 -5, in particular in relation to the manner in which connectors mounted in the apertures 36 are connected with individual fibres of a cabled optical fibre which loops into the cavity 32 through the opening 33.

Referring next to Figure 8, there is shown a schematic illustration of a typical fibre distribution network according to the prior art. The supply fibre cable 10 is routed underground and passes through underground management enclosures 11, in each of which groups of fibres 12 can be split off from the main bundle to routing supply to customer premises 13. The split off fibres 12 are then routed above ground, to a fibre drop terminal 14, typically located at the top of a telegraph pole 15, from which individual premises are connected by individual fibre cables which connect to the fibre drop terminal. As can be seen from Figure 8, in this prior art approach an underground management enclosure 11 is required for each drop terminal. A single underground enclosure could be configured to feed several terminals, but a significant underground network would be required to do this.

Figure 9 illustrates a fibre distribution network implemented using a fibre drop terminal according to the invention. As with the prior art system of Figure 7, the main cabled optical fibre 20 is routed underground to an underground management enclosure 21 in which a group of fibres 22 are split from the main fibre bundle 20 for routing to customer premises 23. The group of fibres 22 is run up the telegraph pole 25 to a drop terminal 24 of the invention. In contrast with the prior art configuration of Figure 7, the split off fibre bundle 22 contains enough fibres to supply a number of drop terminals, and the bundle 22 is fed into the first drop terminal 24, wherein a portion of the fibres are split off for connection to the aperture connectors 8 of the terminal 24, whilst the remaining fibres of the bundle 22 looped back out of the terminal 24 and routed above ground to the next telegraph pole for supplying the next drop terminal 24. In this way, fewer subterranean management enclosures are required.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A fibre drop terminal comprising a housing formed of two parts which are engageable along mating surfaces to formed an internal cavity, seal means associated with the mating surfaces for sealing the internal cavity, a plurality of rugged outdoor receptacles provided on an exterior surface of the housing, said plurality of rugged receptacles including at least one receptacle which, in use, receives a fibre connector that is connected to a single optical fibre cable, a multi-fibre input receptacle that, in use, receives an input multi-fibre connector or cable, and a multi-fibre output receptacle that, in use, receives an output multi-fibre connector or cable, wherein the at least one single fibre cable receptacle and the multi-fibre output receptacle are connectable to the multi-fibre input receptacle within the cavity such that some of the fibres which, in use, enter the housing through the input receptacle pass through the drop terminal directly to the multi-fibre output receptacle for routing to another drop terminal.
2. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 1, wherein at least one fibre management tray with positive fibre management for protected fibre elements is housed within the cavity for management the routing of the fibres within the cavity.
3. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 2, wherein the at least one fibre management includes at least one tray which having fixing features for mounting optical splitters and/or fibre channels which ensure minimum bend radii are not exceeded and/or which enable fibre storage so that output legs of splitters or pigtails are all presented with the same length.
4. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 3, wherein the or each fibre management tray is pivotally mounted in the cavity to facilitate access to the or each tray whilst ensure compactness.
5. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the at least one tray includes at least one tray to accommodate a splitter.
6. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 5, wherein the cavity includes mounting means for releasably mounting one or more trays so that additional trays may be added to split off more fibres or the like as necessary.
7. A fibre drop terminal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least some of the receptacles are connectors which extend through to the outside of the housing so as to enable mating connectors to be connected without having to access the internal cavity of the drop terminal.
8. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 7, wherein the connectors are inline single or multi-fibre couplers which provide a fibre connector on each end such that the connector on one end is accessible from outside the housing and the connector on the other end is accessible from the cavity within the housing.
9. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 8, wherein the connector on each end includes an alignment sleeve to ensure proper alignment and close engagement of mating fibres.
10. A fibre drop terminal according claim 8 or claim 9, wherein each coupler is sealed to the housing both at the cavity side and at the outside of the housing.
11. A fibre drop terminal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least some of the receptacles are openings in the housing through which individual fibres or fibre bundles may be routed into the cavity for interconnection.
12. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 11, wherein sealing means is associated with each opening for sealing around the fibre or fibre bundle passing through the opening to ensure the water tight integrity of the cavity is maintained.
13. A fibre drop terminal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the multi-fibre input and output receptacles are integrated together as a loop port which allow the fibre bundle cable to pass into the cavity and then loop back out.
14. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 13, wherein separate seal means is associated with the incoming and outgoing cable, the separate seal means cooperating with each of as well as with their associated cable to ensure that the integrity of the sealed cavity is maintained.16. A fibre drop terminal according to any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the multi-fibre input and output receptacles are separated from each other.17. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 16, wherein the multi-fibre input and output receptacles are separate ports or connectors which are separated from each other on the housing.18. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 17, wherein the multi-fibre input and output receptacles are located on opposing ends of the housing, so that when mounted vertically, one receptacle is vertically above the other.19. A fibre distribution configuration comprising a plurality of fibre drop terminals according to any of the preceding claims arranged vertically above each other in a vertical column, each drop terminal having a fibre bundle inlet receptacle and a fibre bundle outlet receptacle arranged vertically one above the other, and a fibre bundle extending vertically through each drop terminal in a series configuration, at least one fibre from the fibre bundle being split from the bundle within each drop terminal and connected to a single fibre or fibre cable outlet receptacle provided in the housing of the drop terminal.20. A fibre drop terminal comprising a housing formed of two parts which are engageable along mating surfaces to formed an internal cavity, seal means associated with the mating surfaces for sealing the internal cavity, a plurality of receptacles provided in the housing which extend to an exterior surface of the housing, said plurality of rugged receptacles including at least one receptacle which receives a fibre connector that is connected to a single optical fibre cable, a multi-fibre input receptacle that receives an input multi-fibre connector, wherein each of the at least one single fibre cable receptacles are connectable to the multi-fibre input receptacle within the cavity, and further including at least one fibre management tray housed within the cavity with positive fibre management for managing fibres within the cavity.21. A fibre drop terminal according to claim 20, wherein the at least one management tray manages the routing of the fibres within and eliminates macro bends which could damage the fibres.22. A fibre drop terminal according to any of claims 1 to 18, 20 or 21, wherein the housing includes a plurality of moulded port recesses for forming said receptacles, each moulded port recess forming a break-out part which can be removed to form a through opening in the housing for configuring as one of said receptacles.23. A housing for a fibre drop terminal comprising two housing parts which are engageable together along mating surfaces to form an internal cavity, seal means associated with the mating surfaces for sealing the internal cavity, and a plurality of moulded port recesses for forming said receptacles, each moulded port recess forming a break-out part which can be removed to form a through opening in the housing for configuring as a receptacle in the drop terminal.