Some of the most common reasons for fiber optic cable cuts include bad weather, wildlife and construction work Fiber optic installations are quite reliable. However, that doesn't mean that they are indestructible. Fiber optic cables are the backbone of modern communications, delivering high-speed data over long distances with minimal loss. No matter how well-planned and well-built a fiber optic line is, chances are that. 1. Also called JCB fade, this issue occurs. This provides a first overview appreciation of the basic approaches of span, path and p-cycle based survivability which we treat in depth in later chapters.