To directly address these challenges and elevate industry standards, ETA International (etai. org) has introduced two pivotal new certifications: the OTDR Testing Specialist (OTS) and the Fiber Splicing Specialist (FSS). CFOTs have a broad knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) in fiber optics that can be applied to almost any job - design, installation, operation – and for almost any application using fiber. The Broadband Fiber Installer certification is designed for technicians working in the FTTx field studying the “physical layer” of the OSI model. Broadband Fiber Installers are expected to know the primary comprehension of Passive Optical Networks (PON) and of Optical Time Domain Reflectometer. Free online self-study programs on many fiber optics and cabling topics applicable to FOA certifications are available free at Fiber U, FOA's online web-based learning website. FOA Reference Books (Available Printed or eBooks) The fiber book is available in Spanish and French as well as English. The FBA OpTIC Path™ course consists of 144 hours of instructor-led and hands-on practices to equip future fiber technicians with the skills and knowledge required to install, splice, test and maintain. When FOA was founded in 1995, fiber optics had already been in commercial use for about 15 years, long distance OSP networks were still being replaced by fiber optics, metro networks were just beginning to be converted to fiber optics and fiber-to-the-home was a distant dream.