According to Wikipedia, “An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than electrical cables.”
Scientists have been researching optical fiber transmission since the 1800s, with American physicist Narinder Singh Kapany coining the term “fiber optics” in 1960. In the early 1970s, Corning Corporation offered the first commercial fiber optic cables, which quickly came into wide use for telecommunications and data services.
Got five minutes? Here’s a quick crash course on optical fiber.
This video from Corning gives a great overview of what fiber optic cable is and how it works.
It’s kind of like magic. Why we love fiber optics.
Fiber-optic cable comes in various sizes and lengths, each filled with strands of glass that vary in number depending on size. There is no magic in the cable itself, it’s just a medium to pass light signals through. The magic comes from its ability to transfer data at high rates of speed, without quality loss, to your communications provider’s fiber equipment and on to the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) located at your home (if you have fiber service).
Fiber-optic service technology allows us to provide identical services and Internet speeds to our rural customers as to a customer living in town. Unlike copper, coaxial cable, wireless transmission and satellites, fiber-optic-conveyed services are not susceptible to moisture, static, commercial power line induction, weather or other intermittent service issues.
Consider that it’s passing voice and data signals through a tiny glass strand with windows of multi-colored light, and fiber-optic technology becomes truly amazing! Sully Telephone continues its ongoing efforts to construct and evolve to a 100 percent fiber infrastructure, with fiber connectivity to all of our customers. To learn when your home or business will be upgraded to fiber-optic service, call our office during regular business hours at (641) 594-2905.
