Increased Bandwidth:

A fiber optic system may have very high bandwidth, sometimes operating at data rates of 20Gb/s, equivalent to more than 240,000 standard telephone calls over one pair of optical fibers. Manufacturers have prototyped 10 Terrabits (150 million simultaneous calls on one strand of fiber)

Increased Distances

Due to the low signal loss (attenuation) exhibited by optical fibers, signals can be transmitted very long distances. Systems can span as much as 10,000 to 15,000km, where optical amplifiers are used to boost the signal levels typically around every 80km.

Fiber Optic Cabling Is Secure

Operational fibers do not radiate any signal, the optical signal is completely contained in the middle of the fiber. This means that fibers are frequently used for applications where data security is important such as military and government communications. Even if attempts are made to ‘tap into’ a fiber optic cable by isolating a bare fiber and putting a tight bend onto it so that some of the signal escapes, this intrusion can be detected by monitoring the power of the transmitted signal, and located using an OTDR technique (Optical Time Domain Reflectometry).

Fiber Optic Cabling Is Safe

A fiber optic communications cable does not carry electrical current. It’s possible to construct completely non-metallic cables so that full electrical isolation can be achieved, particularly important in the Electric supply industry. There are no risks of short circuits generating sparks which may ignite explosive gases etc.

All these intrinsically safe characteristics have led to the widespread use of fiber optics in hazardous environments such as oil refineries, chemical works, coal mines, etc.

Fiber Optic Cabling Is Environmentally Friendly

When compared to copper communications cables, there is little use of resource in manufacturing, transporting and installing fiber optic cables because of the lightweight, compact nature of optical fibers.

Fiber Optic Cable Has No Scrap Value

Fiber optic cable is worthless as scrap and therefore not worth stealing unlike copper telecoms cable. Less theft is always good!

Fiber Optic Cabling Is Future-proof

Any fiber optic system currently installed will only be using a very small fraction of the potential information carrying capacity of the fiber. Therefore, as demand for communications capacity increases the system can be upgraded by attaching more sophisticated transmission equipment.

There is a general downward trend in prices of fiber optics cabling, components, tools and installation equipment. However, the transmission equipment which converts electricity into light and back again is still relatively expensive. As prices continue to fall, and the price of copper continues to rise, fiber optics will become the most cost-effective solution for more and more applications – bringing all the other benefits as well.