Optical fiber is an ultra-thin, extremely flexible thread of glass that enables us to transmit information at high speeds across the room or across the world. Corning invented the first commercially viable low-loss optical fiber in 1970, but glass technology has continued to evolve since that time.
How has glass technology changed to meet growing bandwidth demand, and why does it remain critical in today’s telecommunications networks? These important facts answer those questions.
When it comes to bandwidth, fiber is king. It is 150,000 times faster than a CAT 5 Ethernet connection, fast enough to support 30 million simultaneous HD video streams.
While the glass we use every day seems inflexible, Corning’s revolutionary single-mode and multimode optical fiber is flexible enough to bend around tight corners, twist into hard-to-reach places and loop within smaller terminal boxes without sacrificing performance.
Compared to other materials, optical fiber is incredibly durable and tough. For example, glass is intrinsically three times stronger than high-tensile steel and is six times stronger than titanium.
Unlike copper wires, it is very difficult to tap or bug optical fiber. If someone does attempt to tap into a fiber cable, maintenance systems can quickly detect a loss in the optical signal being transmitted.
Learn more about optical fiber by exploring this video.
