Fiber-Optics – making Broadband Possible
Fiber Optic or optical fiber cables are pervasively deployed by telecommunications companies to comprise their main backbone network infrastructure. These cables are often laid out in underground conduits as well as on ocean floors over long transoceanic distances to carry high-density high-bandwidth transmission capacities from which telecoms service providers and ISPs can tap into for their networking requirements.
Fiber Optic cables are most suited for main telecoms backbone as they carry the most signals compared with the traditional copper cables that are subject to corrosion and throughput diminution over time. In fact, most network providers have started replacing their old copper cables with more resilient high bandwidth fiber optics in many countries undergoing telco infrastructure improvements.
Advantages
- Electrical signals when converted to light suffer lesser interference and attenuation over fiber optic cables than they would through regular metal cables.
- This low attenuation is ideal for carrying signals over long distance communication.
- Data throughput is very high typically reaching the Gigabyte range as each fiber in a fiber optic bundle can carry many channels independently using various light wavelengths in a propagation method called wavelength division multiplex.
- Light is immune to electrical interference so signal integrity can be conserved from point of origin to destination over long distances with the cable going through high interference density location.
Disadvantage
- Fiber Optic cable installation require training as its successful installation hinges on compliance with cabling and termination standards not strictly required in regular copper cables
It’s expensive to install but is cost effective when high bandwidths are needed as the cost per megabit can be lower. Fiber Optics is strongly recommended in cabling tall buildings or premises where many users are expected to tap into the premise network so that cost can be equitably spread among users.
