What is Fiber?
All-fiber networks (sometimes referred to as fiber-to-the-home—FTTH—or fiber-to-the-premises—FTTP) are built to connect homes and businesses to lightning fast Internet connections. The fiber optic cables that make up these networks are the fastest and most reliable broadband technology and are capable of delivering vastly higher bandwidth than traditional copper wires or wireless. All-fiber networks are directly connected from the central office all the way to a subscriber’s building. There is no other technology along the path except fiber optics.
Fiber optic cables are made up of thin strands of glass that carry information by transmitting pulses of light, which are usually created by lasers. The vibrations are turned on and off very quickly. A single fiber can carry multiple streams of information simultaneously over different wavelengths, or colors, of light, enabling more robust video, Internet, and voice services. Fiber cables are capable of transmitting multi-gigabit Internet speeds compared to the mere megabytes typical of copper connections.
Best of all, ongoing improvements in fiber optic equipment are constantly increasing the bandwidth that can travel through fiber networks.