America’s telecom firms are phasing out of old copper lines and installing high-speed fiber optics. According to The Washington Post, “This technological transition will enable new features, such as high-definition voice, and could grant new capabilities to our first responders.”
This technology uses thin strands of glass or plastic (optical fibers) to carry information between two places using light.
Text, voice, data, video, images, etc. are transferred around the globe in a split second.
Benefits of Optical Fiber
- Cost effective
- Speed and Bandwidth
- Better distance
- Greater resistance to electromagnetic “noise”
- Small size and low weight
- Low security risk
Brief History of Fiber Optics
ARSTechnica states, “In 1965, Charles K. Kao and George A. Hockham of the British company Standard Telephones and Cables realized that optical fiber could be of practical use for telecommunications, and since that date fiber has become the medium of choice.” Watch this video of Charles Kao experimenting with optical fiber in 1966. Kao won the Nobel Prize in Physics for “groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication” in 2009.
What to Expect
If we were to unravel all of the glass fibers that wind around the globe, we would get a single thread over one billion kilometers long – which is enough to encircle the globe more than 25 000 times – and is increasing by thousands of kilometers every hour.” – NobelPrize.org
The global fiber optics market is proposed to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 9.49% from 2016-2020.
How Is Fiber Optics Run?
In many circumstances, the large telecom conglomerates run the actual fiber, while electrical specialty companies, such as CUSITech perform the site requirements. Site requirement details include:
- Pathway from the property line to the MPOE (Main Point of Entry)
- Conduit from the MPOE to the data rack to be installed (usually in a server/comm/data room)
- Dedicated outlet for the new equipment
- Mounting Backboard
- Grounding to the backboard
- Extend the DMARC which entails running CAT5, fiber, etc. depending on the length of the run.
- Miscellaneous infrastructure additions (example: pull boxes, weather heads, etc.)
For more information on fiber optics, contact CUSITech.
