This Interim European Telecommunication Standard (I-ETS) specifies requirements of fusion splices to be used in single-mode optical fibre telecommunications land based (not submarine) systems. The scope includes the establishment of minimum unform requirements for the following aspects: - optical, environmental and mechanical properties; - test conditions, - acceptance criteria. Some users may have additional specific requirements, such as a need to verify perfprmance at lower temperatures. These users should specify slices conforming to the basic ETSI performance standard, plus additional tests or more severe test conditions. For the purpose of qualification, a splice is defined as fusion spliced fibres protected by a slice protector with fibre tails of 1,5 m on each side of the splice protector. A minimum length of 1,5 m on each side of the splice protector must be exposed to the test conditions of all climatic and environmental tests.