Everyone has a story to tell when asked about fiber. Many of the myths and facts get confused and confusing. Thus we should understand just why everyone is so excited about the use of fiber optics. Let’s start with the facts first:

1. Optical fiber will be the backbone of the information superhighway, transporting voice, video, and data to businesses, schools, hospitals, and homes. Demands for information continue to increase so much that the maximum available transport rates are doubling approximately every two years. Because of this rapid growth, electronic functions in communications networks eventually will be replaced by photonic functions, which provide higher information-carrying capacity.

2. Fiberoptics are needed because coaxial television cables are capable of carrying more information than copper wire (unshielded twisted-pair wire). Computer and telephone companies need something with which to compete with the CATV companies. This also means that the fiber wires will allow the telephone companies
to offer newer services. A new service being offered to consumers known as very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) will bring telephony, TV, Internet access, and high-speed future services to the door. Yet this will depend on fiber to really achieve the result. Currently, the telephone companies are using a hybrid fiber and coaxial (HFC) service to offer VDSL.

3. Currently, all new undersea cables are made of optical fibers. This is crucial to the economic installation of high-density transmission systems. The cost of the fiber as opposed to the cost of copper makes the undersea cable more attractive and readily available. Look at the cost reductions in getting a trans-Atlantic circuit since the introduction of fiber. Costs literally dove down to more affordable communications for corporate connectivity internationally.

4. Many believe that 98 percent of copper wire will be replaced by fiberoptic cable, including at the local loop to the residence. This belief is one we can all take to the bank. Copper has many problems in distribution and maintenance. Fiber becomes far more economical. Logic, therefore, points to the deployment of more fiber to every facet of communications. Fiberoptic cable installed in place of copper wire that already requires replacing is less expensive. Because it only needs repeaters to amplify the signals every six miles instead of every mile for copper, the cost of installation is much less.

5. Optical fiber phone lines cannot be bugged or tapped easily. If one were to attempt to tap into the fiber, the cable would be broken in the process. This would trip alarms on the link and cause maintenance and surveillance personnel to take notice. Moreover, to rejoin the cable is more difficult, eliminating the novice from the process of tapping into a fiber system. By breaking into the cable, the light flow is disrupted (Figure 1-9). By splicing the cable improperly, loss and transmission impairments become highly  problematic. Actually, the light’s reflections and refractions can be changed significantly, causing character changes in the cable. Therefore, only skilled personnel today can splice the cables properly.

6. A fiber is thinner than a human hair. Fibers are 8 to 10 microns or 50 to 62.5 microns thick. One micron (1 m) is 1/250th the thickness of a human hair. This thickness (thinness) represents the advantages of the glass itself. It is lighter and easier to handle. It is immune to the mechanical problems of copper. It carries thousands of times the information of copper wire.

7. As radio spectrum becomes more scarce and the need for more information-carrying capacity increases, many utility companies are finding it cost-effective to install fiberoptic communications networks